Following You
by Edelin
Summary: Witch Hunting. Sakura ten months ago was captured by a mysterious hunter, who covered his face with a mask. Now, ten months later, she decided to start searching for that man after seeing a dream about him tottally forgeting her.
1. Part 1

**4/11/2011**

Hello everyone! I decided to edit and divide this story in four parts since many told me that it was a bit tiring as a huge oneshot... so it's the same story, just divided. Major thanks to my beta-reader for this fic, the adorable Pyocola Analogue III!

This is my entry For the AU challenge at the KakaSaku community at LJ.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

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><p>It had been a year since she last saw him but to her it felt like decades away from the source of life. She inhaled the cold air and looked at the fire. She had been searching for him a whole month now but there was no sign. The only clue she had was that dream; it was an awful dream and she couldn't stop shaking every time she thought about it. It was a warning her deity sent her; she had to hurry to find him if she wanted to be with him again. The vision didn't tell her how she was going to lose him; it could be because of another woman, because of death, because of anything. They had already been separated because of the circumstances once. She couldn't stay back and let him leave her behind, leave her in his memories and move on. She knew that all those months he was traveling to get away from her, but he did it because he couldn't move on from what they had lived; however brief it was, it had made an impact on him. She wondered if he still felt betrayed because of what had happened.<p>

She shook her head furiously. It didn't matter. Once she found him nothing would matter but him, her and their love. He was right to be angry but her actions were also justified. She was his prisoner who had tried in agony to escape or at least warn her people about the danger he was. If she hadn't, she would be dead. But even worse than being dead, she would have died empty.

She wouldn't know it, of course, but a woman that has never been in love is empty; even more a witch, whose whole being is ruled by emotions and powers the mind of a mortal cannot even imagine exist.

People hated her and her people because they didn't understand them; they couldn't comprehend what was happening inside them and felt envious of them, people like her, who knew. They were connected with the universe and the world around them. Whatever others said about them being demons or possessed by evil spirits was wrong. They were happy and blessed to be the few creatures on this world to know of the Truth.

The Truth couldn't be described by words; it was greater than anything a human could utter, think or comprehend. It was just the Truth and it didn't need to be anything more than that.

Others tried desperately to find proof of the existence of God. They claimed to have seen or even touched the avatars of their deities; stories of frenzied men and women who had seen the light and found the True religion. Sakura wouldn't disagree with the claims, and she would not openly attack the premise of these kinds of encounters. She was glad for those who had found enrichment amid the chaos of the world; whenever one finds the contentment of spiritual guidelines.

But what of faith?

What of fidelity and loyalty? Complete trust? Faith is not granted by tangible proof. It comes from the heart and soul. If a person needs proof of a God's existence, then the very notion of spirituality is diminished into sensuality and what is holy is reduced into what is logical.

Faith was like love; not the same but one felt them the same way. Otherwise why was she in love with the man that had wanted to kill her? People do not fall in love following logic; they just do. That's why people so different are together. They do not always make it but the experiences they gain are unique. No matter the pain, the sorrow, one should never regret loving someone. It is painful when love dies but it is also natural sometimes. It may even be necessary for some to go on and love again.

But some loves cannot be forgotten. The couples may not have ended up together but what they felt was so unique, so powerful, that it just could not be lost. It could be pushed aside, deliberately forgotten while the humans are awake, but it was there and it affected their whole lives. It was the love that hurt them the most because no other person than that one would make them repeat a feeling so strong, so pure and so important.

That's what Kakashi was to her. The absolute feeling of belonging, loving and existing for that brief moment he was hers. She had been in love before him and had tried to have an affair again so she wouldn't think of him anymore but it was impossible. Unlike her previous lovers, he had touched a spot inside her that no one else could. She wondered sometimes whether she would be able to live without him if they had experienced more than three weeks of being together, more than one night of being one. If they had lived years together and then they were separated. Or worse; he left her.

She shook her head again. Thoughts like that were not appropriate. The only thing that mattered was that she loved him and he loved her. That's why he left; because he had loved her while everyone and everything taught him to hate her and her people.

It was unfair that they had been raised in such different worlds, but at the same time it was necessary because they wouldn't have met and lived those amazing three weeks together. Sakura had vowed to never regret her time with him, even if he refused her in the end.

But she would do anything in her power to have him again. She was ready to follow him wherever he led her to prove to him how much she loved him. Only with him she would be complete.

Her life now had only him. After she left the village, she traveled and earned the basic money she needed offering her healing magic. Well, she wasn't getting paid every time. Sometimes it was enough to let her sleep somewhere or give her some food. Other times, she asked for nothing and just helped. She couldn't deny her services to someone in need. That was the reason she had her magic; to use it for others.

She looked at the big sky with the thousand stars. It was so beautiful and it soothed her to think that he was also looking at the same sky she was. And it terrified her at the same time because she couldn't be sure if he was looking at it alone.

She lay and let herself sleep for a few hours until dawn, wondering for one more time why she waited eleven months to search for him. Why did she waste all those months away from him? He had already proved his love, so it was logical for her to show him how much she loved him too. But she just left, waited and tried to forget him and now she was trying to make sure HE wouldn't forget her. The irony of Life.

She woke up sweating and crying. She took a big breath and tried to relax. Something had happened; something very bad. She didn't have time to lose. She hugged herself in an attempt to calm down. She couldn't allow him to forget her. She couldn't live knowing that she was his past while he was her past, present and future.

If it hadn't happened yet, it was really close to happening and she didn't have time to waste. Hesitantly, she took out of her pocket a magical crystal and looked at it doubtfully.

When she started that journey, she had vowed she wouldn't use magic but... right now she was thinking really hard how much easier it would be to find him. After all, it was magic that made her start searching for him frantically. The prophetic dream was magic.

She looked at the sky and squeezed the crystal.

_I have to find him as soon as possible! _

With that thought in mind, she activated the crystal and chanted in the ancient forgotten language the spell to show her where the magical cave where her friend Ino, a sear, lived and practiced her magic along with the rest of her family.

She didn't want to let her powers become an obstacle again in their lives but THAT was what she was. She was gifted with these powers by a creature she loved so much, in a unique way, unique like her feelings for Kakashi. She couldn't deny her religion and her nature. He shouldn't deny his nature, either. If she was going to be with him, he would have to accept her for who she really was; otherwise she knew she wouldn't be happy and would even start to resent Kakashi for making her lose her faith. And he wouldn't be at peace, knowing that she was a witch, resenting that and also resenting the wizard in him for being attracted to her magic.

She shook her head. She wasn't going to give up her faith, as she was not going to ask him to give up his. If he really loved her, he would have to respect her wishes and needs for divine guidance. He would have to respect her generally and not see her as a lesser being that he was with despite his will and logic, not see himself as half-breed.

She finished her spell and followed the path that the crystal showed in her mind. When she reached the entrance of the cave, she hesitated again for a moment, remembering her vow. She originally wanted to find him on her own, following her instincts and her logic but... but she needed to see him so much that there was no way she would let an opportunity like that pass her by; especially when everything around her was telling her she needed to hurry before it was too late.

The cave was dark and, for simple humans, terrifying. The magic was so strong here that it would be described as chilly by others but to wizards and witches, it was a bliss of power. She smiled at the thought. If there was one place for her to ask where he was, this would be it.

"Sakura?" a female voice asked from behind her and the pink haired witch turned to look at her smiling as she had realized who she was. She opened her arms and the girl jumped out of the shadows and hugged her excitedly. "I missed you so much!"

"Me too, Ino!" Sakura told her and hugged her tightly.

They let go of each other and held hands. "I haven't seen you for nearly year." she said and sighed.

Sakura nodded and looked down sadly. Ino, sensing her friend's distress, squeezed her hands and led her outside of the cave. Sakura looked at her but didn't say anything; just followed her friend to wherever she was taking her. She wanted to tell her what had happened this past year.

She hadn't revealed their story to anyone but she wanted someone to know, to comfort her, in case she was rejected. She needed Ino's help, after all, if she was going to find him using the cave and Ino's abilities.

"What happened?" her friend asked worried. "You know you can tell me anything." she reassured her, trying to be supportive and encourage her to open up to her. To the blond, it was clear that her pink-haired friend was suppressed by her own emotions. She needed someone to reveal them to, along with the other thing she came to ask from her. Then her eyes widened and she jumped up.

"Is _he_ back?" she asked, frightened. "Don't tell me you let him use you again?" she accused her friend mortified.

"No!" Sakura said, disgusted. "I haven't seen him since he left. I don't really want to see him ever again." This seemed to make Ino relax and keep quiet for the rest of their walk.

They sat below a tree and the blond witch stared questioningly at her. She looked down and took a big breath. "A little after the last time we saw each other I was captured by a hunter."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she moved closer to her. "Then, how...?"

"How am I still alive?" she finished for her. Ino nodded and nodded for her to continue impatiently, eager to learn the rest of the story.

Sakura took a big breath. "The story is not so simple so I'm going to tell you what happened from the beginning."

Flashback

Sakura was running as fast as she could, trying desperately to find a place to hide. The possibility for that to happen was very small but she couldn't stop trying; giving in was admitting defeat. In this case defeat equaled her death and she was not willing to die yet.

Suddenly she stopped and looked behind her. She tried to listen where the hunter was as she let her magic flow inside her and searched for him. Strangely she couldn't find him. For him to be able to hide meant that he was using magic as well.

She held her breath and stretched her ears to listen for any sound that could inform her of his location.

Nothing; absolutely nothing. It was like the man had vanished into thin air, and yet she knew that he was around her, ready to strike and capture her. She felt her heartbeat quicken and nearly heard it in her ears.

She was afraid, desperate. This man that was searching for her had the necessary skills to find her and defeat her. He knew of magic and used it. She felt a wave of anger take over her.

_Hypocrites! They burn us for our powers when they use exactly the same power to capture us! _

There was no other explanation for him being undetectable; he had to know of magic and practice it. They may call that power divine and holy, in contrast to her satanic and diabolic energy, but she knew better. They were the same. If she was a sinner for having the gift, then so were they!

The only other explanation was that the man was a wizard, a strong one she had to admit, and he had joined the other side for his own selfish reasons. This was worse, actually, because it meant that her hunter was a traitor. He led his family, his brothers and sisters, to the pyre. He may even be someone she knew.

Her eyes widened when she realized that if _that _was true, then her whole village was in danger. They would burn them all alive. Panicked, she looked around and tried desperately to use her magic to find the man. But it was futile. His presence was so well hidden that she couldn't find him although she was using the energy of the forest.

She started moving again, running frantically. She had to reach the village and inform them of the danger they all were in.

The man was strong and she couldn't face him on her own but he would be dead once the wizards and witches from her village came looking for him.

As she relaxed at that thought and slowed down for a moment, she was captured. The man had been right behind her and was waiting patiently for her to lower her guards and think of something but him to strike and trap her. She fought, kicked and punched. She tried to use her magic but he had done something to her and she couldn't draw it.

She felt him come on top of her, pinning her as he grabbed her hands. She managed to see his face, or at least a part of it, before he put a cloth on her face.

He had silver hair. Then she fell into darkness.

XXX

She cracked her eyes open, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She needed a moment to realize where she was and why she felt so uncomfortable.

She was tied down and sleeping on the floor. There was a rope holding together her hands behind her back and that same rope was holding together her legs. She was tied down like an animal.

Enraged, she looked around to see where her captor was.

He was mocking her as he leisurely sat and watched her. She rolled so she could face him easier and studied his face. At least he wasn't someone from her village; or if he was, he had been away for many years because she had never seen him before.

But he was a magic user. The pendant he was wearing was enough proof of that. "Traitor." she murmured and closed her eyes for a moment, tiredly.

This seemed to agitate the man, for some reason, but he didn't voice his distress. Noticing his annoyance, she eyed him and smirked.

"This angers you?" she questioned and watched as, for a moment, his expression changed into one of annoyance and glared at her. His expression changed immediately into his previous calm and a little cavalier one. "You refuse to talk, huh?" she stated more than asked, "Yet, it is evident to me that deep inside you feel guilty for giving in your people."

"My people?" he queried and raised an eyebrow at her, clearly amused at her statement.

Sakura gazed at him confused. "Those who use magic, like you." she told him quietly after a pause.

"I do not use magic." he said through his teeth, the anger distinct in his voice. She relaxed at knowing that at least she could annoy him as he led her to her death.

"Then why couldn't I sense you at the forest?" she challenged him to answer "Or why are you wearing _that_?" she asked and showed with a movement of her head the pendant around his neck.

He just looked at her without answering. She smirked at him a little and she closed her eyes.

"Call it however you like; it is magic and if I am cursed for using it to heal and find my way when I am lost, then you are equally cursed for using it to kill us." she paused and rolled again so she wouldn't look at him. "Maybe even more than me, since I give life when you kill."

She was waiting for him to answer back, act in a way cruel and brutal. She wanted him to act like that so she could start hating him on a personal level but he did nothing; he just stayed silent and she felt his gaze on her back.

She was sore and tired. And uncomfortable. Why did he have to tie her like that? For a moment she wanted to ask him to untie her a bit, at least to have her tied in a way that she could sleep without feeling her skeleton on her back was going to crack, but her ego and pride didn't allow her to voice that request. So she slept feeling uncomfortable and annoyed.

She woke up again as she started feeling cold and looked around her once again. It was night and the sky was ebony black but the hunter was nowhere to be found. Surprised at that she tried to roll again so she could see the rest of the place they were occupying better.

Then she saw him, lightly sleeping next to a tree hugging his katana. His look was peaceful and serene; something that did not sit well with Sakura, who felt he should at least feel some shame for bringing her here and having her like that, tied like a pig ready to be put in the oven.

That was what was actually going to happen. She was going to get burned alive and be carried to her pyre like an animal, with no dignity and no friends to say goodbye.

She had heard of how the pyres were by some of the few witches and wizards that managed to escape but had been forced to see others of their kind be burned alive. Their screams still haunted them.

She felt tears in her eyes at the mental image; her screaming as flames consumed her, ate her skin while hunters around her laughed and celebrated her death. The extinction of another diabolic being; the avatar of Satan on earth.

She closed her eyes and let her tears run down her face. She didn't want to die. And certainly not like that. She gazed at the man as she let a sob escape her lips and she bit her bottom lip to prevent more coming out. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to sleep again as she was trembling from the cold, feeling extreme pain at her back and feeling an even stronger feeling of despair wash over her as she started thinking of all the dreams she wanted to do and she would never be able to achieve, all the small things she could do but never did, thinking that she could always do them the next day. Now she knew that tomorrow she wouldn't do them and she regretted not acting upon them when she had the time.

Somehow she slept again and she woke up when a hand shook her. It wasn't done harshly but also neither gently. She could only describe it as a shaking for her to wake up. She opened her eyes that ached a little after all the crying she had the previous night. He untied her and she let out a small cry as her body was free to be in a more natural position. She tried to move and get up but she found her body unresponsive to her commands, so she just lay down and took big breaths as she tried to readjust herself to the new position.

The man was watching her but didn't say anything to her that could explain her untying. He hesitantly put his hand on her back and pressed at the middle. He started rubbing her slowly and she found herself relaxing and feeling better at the new position she was in. But she was also angry.

Why did he let her sleep like that and the next morning free her? Why was he doing that now, like he was nice and cared for her well being? The obvious answer was that he didn't want her to burden him with her inability to move but that also didn't explain why he had her tied that way in the first place.

"Better?" he asked and she glared at him. He didn't glare back but instead continued his massage thing. It was better and she was getting relaxed but she didn't want to admit to him that she was indeed feeling better thanks to his help when, in the first place, she wouldn't need his help if he hadn't tied her down like that.

"Why are you so angry?" he questioned. His tone didn't hide mockery or arrogance. It sounded like sincere interest for her well being and it angered her to no end. She could accept and justify the mockery, the arrogance, the fake pretense but not the caring and the humility. She wanted to yell at him the obvious answer but she controlled her urges and instead took a breath to calm herself.

"Why, really?" she asked instead of giving a straight answer to her captor. Her tone was clearly sarcastic and he understood it but that didn't make him stop rubbing her back.

She waited for him to answer but when he didn't, she became even angrier. "I have been for a whole night in pain, humiliated, tied like an animal and I am going to be burned alive." she answered his question through her teeth and let out a sigh of frustration. "Are these reasons adequate for an explanation for my behavior?"

He looked at her and paused at his rubbing. Sakura slowly sat up and let another small cry of pain at the change of position. If she had her magic this pain would be gone in seconds but the man had something with him that was not allowing her to use her abilities.

"They are acceptable." he finally said as he lay her down once again and continued his ministrations.

"Even from a creature from hell? A demon with the form of a human that misleads others around her and makes them go astray from the way of living, God and the church that instructs the mere mortals to live?" she taunted him, knowing how he viewed her. She was not human in his eyes; she was lower than that.

Again, he didn't answer.

After an hour, they started walking. To make sure she wouldn't escape, he tied her with him using a rope. The tying this time was not so humiliating; he just tied her hands in front of her and held the other edge of the rope as he walked in front of her. They didn't converse at all, and that was how Sakura wanted it.

As she marched towards her grave, she calmed down and started thinking rationally. She glanced at the man's back and then at her hands. Despite how difficult, even impossible maybe, she had to give it a shot. She couldn't just walk without attempting at least once to escape.

It was how that would make all the difference. She needed to work slowly and carefully, make him loosen up with her, even start liking her perhaps so she could escape during a night and have enough time to hide somewhere. She also needed to inform her villagers of where she was and what she was planning to do; maybe they would send someone to help her survive.

But what was essential was that he wouldn't find out. She needed him to lose control with her, start acting the way he felt and not the way he thought he should act. How though?

Her lips slowly formed a smile as she gazed at his back again intently. He felt her gaze, she knew, since he tensed slightly but wasn't annoyed enough to look back at her. He was a man and all men wanted and never denied one thing: good sex.

That was how she was going to approach him; she was going to seduce him. But first, she needed to learn how much time she had to work and realize her plan. She could give it a shot; she had nothing to lose, after all, while he would lose everything if the other hunters learned he was involved with a witch; the one he had captured more or less.

In the end it was possible for her to get burned and him to regret it. It was going to be a fulfilling sight; him in pain and haunted by her screams because of the guilt, while his mistakes could never be amended because she would be dead, like the rest of his victims, and he would never be able to bring them back and give them what they stole without thinking for a second time.

It had been three days since she decided to seduce him but she still hadn't put her plan in action. She didn't know how to start. Although she wasn't a virgin, she didn't really have that much experience with men; especially men that were going to kill her and hated her for no other reason but the fact that she was who she was.

She hadn't even managed to talk to him, learn his name.

She took a big breath and glanced at his back as they were walking. He was in the front leading while she was following and tied to him with a rope. She sighed in frustration; at least she could sleep better since he never tied her down the way he did the first night. It was an improvement.

She had to start a conversation with him tonight. She had to learn when they would reach the place she was going to get burned in. Each minute she lost was a minute closer to her death. And she had decided she would not let him kill her that easily.

After hours of walking, they finally stopped and camped for the night. He got out of his back something for him to eat and sat back, not giving her any attention, except for tying her hands and legs. But the way he did this time allowed her to sit and look at him in a more comfortable position. He didn't give her food at night; only in the morning before they started walking.

She opened her mouth slightly and then closed it again; she had to be careful about the way she was going to approach the subject. Generally people called her hot tempered but in the situation she was in, there was no room for mistakes because the cost was huge.

"May I ask you something?" she asked in a shaky voice. She didn't want to sound weak but neither strong nor confident. It seemed, though, that it was more difficult to hide her anxiety and nervousness than she thought. She never really was good with hiding her emotions and her thoughts.

He looked at her, surprised that she talked to him. Hesitantly, he nodded and she took a big breath. The man probably considered her incapable of speaking and conversing like a normal human being so the fact that she initiated a conversation must have surprised the hunter.

"How much time do I have before...?" she looked down and then again at him uncomfortably "You know?"

"Before you return to the place you came from?" he asked, indicating hell. She narrowed slightly her eyes but didn't comment. She knew he was going to be sarcastic about it. She slowly nodded, confirming that this was what she wanted to know.

He smirked behind his mask and didn't answer her query, just stared at her and after a moment let a laugh. "You almost had me fooled, witch." he said after a moment.

She raised an eyebrow curiously at him, not understanding what he meant, what kind of insult he was throwing at her. "You believe I don't care that I am going to get burned alive?" she asked, shocked after he continued to look at her mockingly and let some laughs as well.

He didn't answer, just sat back once again and shook his head, ready to start ignoring her again.

"If you were me, wouldn't you want to know how much time you have before you are going to get killed?" she asked incredulously and she tightened her fists. She was ready to yell at him but bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything reckless.

"I could never be you." he answered a bit angrily, not ignoring her anymore or hiding behind an invisible mask of irony. This time she smirked, at least he was showing his true colors now.

"Why?" she looked at him challengingly. "Because your books say that killing someone who has different beliefs is acceptable? Because you using magic to capture me to lead me to my pyre is holy?"

"It's not the same." he hissed at her and she smiled at him, ironically. "I do not use the power of the devil to hide my true nature or make others stray away from the right path. You are the emblem of temptation. You promise a paradise to simple humans but you lead them to their eternal damnation."

"Do you truly believe that, hunter?" she questioned him. "Do you really think that my power and yours are so much different?"

He didn't answer, which showed Sakura that he wasn't sure about the answer. He had doubts but the way he was raised did not allow him to voice them and let them grow. That was the prison of all those religious obsessed people; they would never be free from what they had been taught.

"When you return to your home, read your books once more." she said and turned him her back. She let out a sigh, irritated. This was not going well.

"Why?" he suddenly asked and the confusion and wonder were clear in his tone.

She turned her head to look at him; he had moved closer to her without her noticing. "To remember what you believe in." she finally told him and turned her back at him once again.

They didn't speak again and he moved to his previous seat. In the end, she received no answer to her question; she only made sure that he was an ass. Although he played it religious and the follower of God's will, he knew nothing of faith and his faith.

There was no way she was going to succeed; she could be handed to her executioner tomorrow for all she knew. They may have even started preparing her pyre and she was just going to have a painful death in less than a day.

She looked at the sky and let some tears escape. This was pathetic of her, she knew, but she felt so sad and desperate. She didn't want to die and she certainly didn't want to have such a painful death. She had always hated physical pain, scars and violence.

She hated the situation she was in and just wanted for it to end. She wanted to go home.

But she would never get to see her house or her friends again. She was going to see some strangers that saw her as an animal, worthy of all the pain they can cause her, that were going to see and perceive her burning like a festival, a celebration, a victory for their side.

She never hurt anyone with her magic; on the other hand, she was a healer. The worst thing she had done with her magic was experiment while she was still learning with animals. Most of the people that were burned hadn't done anything wrong. She knew that there were forms of magic that were dark and hurtful but these were so few.

Weren't there people, humans, who did cruel and hideous crimes? They didn't kill every human just because some acted like that. She looked at the man and grimaced as she tried to swallow a choke. Why didn't they think that? She was just seventeen and it seemed logical to her, so how could these old, mature and experienced in life men not think of it too?

She should hate him for taking her away from her home, her family, but she found herself unable to. He was also imprisoned in his life with few chances of escaping. His cell was his mind and way of thinking and he needed to try a lot to get out of that.

She had to admit he had some chances since he thought enough to have some doubts about what he did, but meanwhile he didn't have the courage to accept these doubts and choose for himself what he wanted to believe in. Even if he one day he did accept his inner thoughts and feelings about his profession, she would be long gone by then.

She let more tears escape and sniffled as she rolled on her left.

XXX

He was tense after what he had experienced the previous night; not only did she say weird stuff during their small oral interaction but during the night, when she thought he was sleeping and didn't watch her, she cried.

Why? Why did she cry and look so human?

He glanced at her sleeping form for a moment before his eyes returned to the rising sun. She wasn't supposed to be sad about it or care.

Right?

She was a demon camouflaged in human skin. The only emotion she was capable of feeling was hate.

Yet, she seemed so fragile the previous night as she had bit her lips so she wouldn't make any noise. Or when she trembled from the overpowering despair she seemed to feel; he actually pitied her.

Had he made a mistake? Had he taken a wrong person?

Although she had admitted that she used magic, maybe her magic was like his abilities, God blessed. Perhaps like him, she was gifted with this kind of power to free the world from evil.

It wasn't the first time he felt like that. During the first night he had tied her down a little too hard and she looked so miserable, that he had felt guilty for putting her in that position. Then she let out that small cry when he released her that he started rubbing her back to make her feel better.

He looked at the small form again, seeing the young female for the first time carefully; she had a nice body, curvy and with good analogies. A pretty face. She was beautiful, he noted.

Her colors were exquisite. He had never met another woman with pink hair and green eyes. It was a sexy antithesis, he had to admit to himself. If things were different, he would have been very interested in her. Not just the body but also the personality; he liked women who fought and spoke their minds, even if that was not common. Most men wanted a wife that was obedient but he liked free spirits that had opinions and defended them.

She also seemed to know a lot of stuff. Otherwise, why did she tell him to read the books again? Could she be bluffing or had she really read them and wanted him to read something particular again?

He shook his head lightly and got up. Leisurely, he moved closer to her and examined her more carefully. She did have a pretty face.

A nice chest; tight, not too big, not too small. Perfect size.

And her skin seemed so smooth and warm, he was tempted to touch her just to see if it really was like that. He contemplated about it but finally his logic overruled his urges.

She suddenly moved and rolled over. Her face now was next to his knees and he could feel her warmth because of the close distance. He took a big breath and tried to move away but her expression made him stay still. She had a pained look on her face and slightly opened her mouth letting out a moan. He perceived it more like a moan of pain rather than pleasure but that sound coming out of her mouth made him imagine what he could do to her to make her moan for pleasure for him.

These thoughts were inappropriate, though. He was not supposed to touch her and have fun with her; no matter how interesting it could be. He wasn't supposed to run his hands on her body lightly and make her whimper at his mere touch.

No, flames were going to kiss her skin and eventually make her scream, not his hands.

How did he come to think of her like that? It wasn't right and it should never happen again. He got up and moved away. He would let her sleep for an hour or two and then they would continue their journey so the witch would return to where she belonged to and no perverted thoughts would become an obstacle in that.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know her name.


	2. Part 2

She woke as she felt the sun on her face and cracked her eyes open unwillingly. The hunter was preparing something close to the fire but she couldn't see what. With great difficulty, she sat up and let a small cry of pain escape her. Her back was still in a lot of pain, due to the awkward position she had been during the first night, the countless hours of walking and the bad stance in which she slept.

He turned to look at her and she saw something in his eyes that confused her, even scared her. It was a glimpse of an emotion she couldn't identify; it was close to interest and fascination but also something else that made her feel she was in danger. She bit her tongue and tightened her fists until it hurt to overcome the sense of fear and took a big breath.

She had to give this whole unplanned plan of hers another chance. Before she opened her mouth, though, he spoke. "You have approximately three weeks, witch," he told her in an emotionless tone. Her eyes widened in surprise and then she felt a wave relief wash over her; she had some time.

"Thank you," she mumbled in a low voice. He gazed at her for a moment and she felt again that same fear and danger coming out of him. After a moment of silence she decided to take a step forward and try to approach him. "My name is Sakura." she said in a low voice again. For some unknown reason she couldn't talk to him in a higher tone than that.

He didn't respond and she wondered if he had actually heard her but when he got up and moved closer to her, she knew he did. "Really?"

She nodded and leaned back, feeling he was way too close for her to feel comfortable. This was not wise according to her plan; she shouldn't make him think she didn't like his presence but her body acted instinctively.

"Did your parents give you that name because of your hair?"

She shook her head and took a big breath to calm herself; her heart had accelerated and she felt her blood rush wilder in her veins. "It was my grandmother's name."

"So it's a coincidence you have that name and that hair color, huh?" It was more like a rhetorical question but she nodded in agreement. He chuckled slightly as he viewed her face. She wanted to lower her gaze and hide her face somehow, anything to make him stop looking but she remembered her plan, her only way to return home and prolong her life, so she looked back at him bravely.

"Your hair color is weird too." she stated after a moment. It wasn't just the color, though, that was peculiar; it was also the style. Not bad or unfitting for him. Now that he was so close, she took the chance to study his face too, or what she could see of it at least.

He was actually good looking. He had that masculine beauty that followed a mature man. Different from the beauty her previous boyfriends had with their baby faces.

More appealing, she decided. Time had been good with him. If she survived, she would try to be with someone older than her. Well, he wasn't that old. He seemed to be around his early thirties.

"Still you like it." This brought her out of her random thinking and she glared at him. Was she that obvious?

"N-No!" she denied and turned away from him.

She heard him chuckle behind her and she felt even more embarrassed. "Don't worry, you are not the only one," he said and she turned to look at him with a dumbfounded expression. "My name is Kakashi." he said and again went close to the fire.

The following night, Sakura sat down and lay down tired. The hunter went to her and tied her legs. She waited for him to finish and then lay more comfortably. He got up without saying anything and went to gather branches for the fire.

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes tiredly. She had to initiate a conversation again so the small progress they had made that morning didn't go to waste. She shouldn't let him over think the situation because he was going to over analyze it; he seemed that type of person, the one that always tried to think and plan his actions, concerning his work at least.

And she needed a bath. She was sweaty and hadn't had a bath for four days. He could say whatever he wanted about her needs and how inhuman they were, but she needed to clean herself. Even if she was to die in the end, personal hygiene was important.

Soon he returned and placed the branches along with some stoned to keep the in place. He raised his hand and soon fire was born out of them. He looked at his hand and then glanced at her.

This surprised her for a reason. Could this be a chance for her to learn about his magic, and maybe the magic the hunters used generally? She took a big breath and gathered her courage to speak.

What was the worst that could happen to her? What could he do?

He could rape her but he didn't seem to be the type to do that. He looked like the man who got enough sexual satisfaction in his life; not a sex deprived person. He also seemed like the man who liked to feel wanted. So rape was something she didn't think of him capable of doing, of wanting to do.

He was going to kill her; he had reduced her to an animal, lower than a human creature. He had stripped her of her powers so he couldn't really do anything worse to her. "Isn't it a sin to use magic?" she asked him finally.

He raised his head and just looked at her for a moment. "We are not the same." he told her and turned away from her again, taking out of his bag something to eat.

"Says who?" she asked again. He looked at her again, while chewing, with an annoyed look.

After swallowing, he got up and went to sit in front of her. "Someone," he answered.

She chuckled at that and a crooked smile appeared on her face. "You don't have an answer." she threw him, challenging him to deny her accusation and show her once again who was the man behind the occupation of the hunter.

Kakashi's eyes flickered in anger but didn't reply to her comment. She smirked at him and lay back, trying to seem relaxed and cool, while in the inside she was feeling ready to explode from the nervousness. His presence close to her was again affecting her heartbeat. Her body was reacting for an unknown reason to his. And the worst thing was that he seemed to understand that.

"Or perhaps you weren't lying." she told him after seeing that he was not answering. "Maybe someone really told you that. Just someone. A person so insignificant that could only be described as someone."

"My teacher," he said to her. "He told me that I am not like you."

"Did he justify that statement?"

He looked at the fire, this time him avoiding her eyes. "Because I have human blood in me." he muttered lightly. "Sakura." he added and turned to look at her.

"Human blood?" she asked confused. Of course he had human blood. She had human blood, although he didn't accept it. They both did. How was that relevant to the justification?

Kakashi kept looking at her face and she did her best to not blush or anything because of the intensity his eyes held. "I am half a wizard and half a human" he admitted to her.

She widened her eyes for a second and then understanding finally hit her. That explained a lot about his abilities; he was trained by the parent that knew of magic. "That doesn't make you half human." she calmly stated. "You are just human, fully human."

He chuckled at her words and looked at the stars. "Says who?" he asked, imitating her earlier question.

"Logic," she answered easily. "Emotions." she added. "These two rule human's lives and they both show that we are both humans. Having a gift from a divine being, however you believe it to be, is nothing to feel ashamed of or sad about." She moved a little closer to him. "It's not the power by itself that is godly or evil."

He seemed now uncomfortable and ran a hand through his silver hair. He looked around, everywhere but her face and that made her feel a wave of female power rush over her.

"Can you say that every human is from the moment they are born good or bad?" she asked him. He froze for a moment and then raised his head and looked at her with a cold and angry look.

"You are not human." he told her coldly.

She answered his look for a moment, wondering if she could help the man see how wrong he was. He was of a magic heritage but if he continued to think like that, he'd hate himself for the rest of his life; he could never be in peace with his nature. Her compassionate nature took hold of her and she felt a need to comfort the man, to try to show him how beautiful the gift was. He was obviously in distress with himself because he was using magic to capture others whose only crime was that they used magic.

"Says who?" she asked him and moved a little closer. He looked back at her and a moment of silence ruled. Then he got up and moved away from her.

He sat down close to his stuff and lay down, turning his back at her. "Go to sleep," he instructed, finishing their previous conversation.

Sakura made a grimace at him mockingly and lay down too, looking at the stars. Then suddenly she remembered something she wanted to ask him and sat up by jumping up. "I forgot!" she exclaimed and he turned to look at her surprised and annoyed by her catching his attention again. She turned at him and blushed slightly. "I need to bathe."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "And don't start that again about me not being human so I don't have needs that mortals do." she cut him as he opened his mouth to retort. "I am going to die a horrible and painful death, but I still want to be clean until the flames take over my body."

He seemed to tense because of what she just blurted out. He opened his mouth, or seemed to do that behind his mask, but didn't say anything for a moment. "Now?" he asked rather lamely and she raised an eyebrow. His tone was nearly shy.

He seemed to be so much like the cool, dark guy, the perfect hunter that didn't go against the rules and always succeeded, it was almost funny for him to ask anything in that tone. She held back a smirk and tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible.

"Or tomorrow morning?" she offered an alternative option. A moment of silence ruled between them before she smirked at him. "You don't have to join, if you don't want to." she added in a fake shy tone. "You can just hold my clothes while I bathe so I won't escape." she crawled to him and he looked at her suspiciously. "I won't start running around naked." she told him, sounding a little offended.

"I am going to be there." he told her and moved closer to her. He untied her and she stretched after she was able to move her body. "Let's go." he said and started walking. They reached a small lake and he sat on a rock and stared at her.

She started taking off her clothes but before she even managed to get her blouse off, she felt his eyes on her, and that strong feeling of fear and danger took over her again. Why? She wasn't that afraid of him when he was cold and more distant towards her. She looked at him and he stared back at her with a strange look, a look that was hiding something but she couldn't tell what.

"Can you turn over?" she asked but again her voice was low. He didn't move like he didn't hear her. "Please?" she tried again, louder this time.

He turned his head so he wasn't directly looking at her but she was also not out of sight. It was the best he would offer her, so she started undressing again. This was the plan, for him to be interested, but for some reason now she didn't want that attention.

Maybe the reason she felt that fear and danger coming out of him was the beginning of lust? Maybe she was succeeding without realizing it? She glanced at him briefly, to see if he was still looking away. Or maybe he was just toying with her so she wouldn't dare to try to escape? He may not want her to relax because they exchanged names and had a more humanly relationship now.

Or all of them?

He may lust her but that is a basic urge all males have. He could just fuck her and the next morning send her to her executioner. She couldn't be the first witch he captured, neither the first female that was trying to use her womanly characteristics to use him. A previous witch, older and more experienced than her, may have tried it.

And possibly failed. Was she too naive to think that she had chances winning this, getting out of here alive just on her own?

She was afraid that, yes, she was. She took off her pants and underwear and immediately jumped into the lake.

The water was cold and she shivered. It was enjoyable, though, the feeling of water and its coolness.

She relaxed inside the water and let out a sigh of exasperation she didn't know she was holding. Her body was forced to its limits and now all the pain came back, showing her she needed to rest well. But she couldn't do that because her well being didn't matter to him and she was meant to die. There was no reason for him to let her rest. He probably wanted to bring her as soon as possible to her pyre and get paid for his hard work.

His hard work equaled her death.

Sakura wanted to hate him. Before her capture, she did hate all the hunters for not letting them be, but she couldn't hate him for any reason. She glanced at him, who immediately looked away. She couldn't hate him because he was like her; he just felt ashamed about it.

In a way, he needed more help than her; she was in peace with herself while he... he was in need of an excuse for who he was. She studied him and he looked back at her with those mysterious dark eyes. How would it feel to despise yourself for being your parent's child?

Sakura adored her parents and their deaths cost her a lot. She was proud of them, wanted to prove to the world around that she was strong and unique. She wanted her father and mother to be proud of her, wherever they were. She always felt them close to her.

They always tried to help her, save her.

She dove down to wet her hair when she suddenly felt a strong wave of magic crush her. She felt lost in its power but not afraid. The power was welcoming her, hugging her protectively. She felt amazed and overwhelmed thanks to the magic that ran inside her, thanks to that wave. Nature was on her side it seemed.

Her eyes opened suddenly and she looked above, where her captor was. If she didn't appear soon, he would suspect something was wrong. Some divine power was giving her this message, this chance to use it to her advantage. She quickly concentrated again and merged her now released power with the lake energy. She desperately sent a sign to her people through the water. Somehow witches that were affiliated with the water would read her scream for help, hopefully. And if they didn't make it to save her, they would be warned about the hunter that used magic to capture her. They would know his face, his aura. At least they would survive and protect themselves.

This was perhaps her last gift to them, her last expression of love and respect. This was how her parents and tribe taught her to live, always thinking of her family, village and its well being.

She moved her legs and rose above the water again, taking a big breath. She shook her head and smiled a genuine smile. She was refreshed and in a way happy. The feeling of that power left her and she again felt empty because of the hunter's spell but even that couldn't make her sad at the moment.

She looked again at the man and she gave him a challenging look that made him gasp. She closed her eyes and smiled slightly; she was affecting him and he certainly lusted her now. She felt a wave of feminine power rush over her body and reached the core of her being. She was pleased, flattered by his interest. If she played well with the one string luck gave her, she could win, perhaps, and could return home.

XXX

The hunter was not sure if that was a good idea. She was affecting him way too much with her clothes on; if he saw her naked and _wet _he couldn't be sure that he would control his urges. Every passing moment, he desired her even more. From the moment she showed him how human she was, from their first verbal interaction, he was tempted to try her, see how she would speak as he made love to her, how she would react during the morning next to him.

But these thoughts and queries should be buried deep inside his head. No matter how unique his body felt next to hers, how smooth her skin was, how peculiar her looks, she was a demon in heart. This was the only truth.

She was a witch; a strong one, too. She was using this appearance to mislead others, faking innocence and emotions. This was what God's representatives said. This was the truth and he should never question it.

But... again... he couldn't help but not think that he was also using magic. He was half human from his mother but also half wizard from his father, who was killed when he was very young. He hardly remembered him. His mother died before his father but, from what he remembered, they were happy, in harmony. He was respectful towards her and he was broken after her loss.

He shook his head slightly. He didn't think of his father usually; he wanted to forget they were related. But... he felt loved by his father.

He took a breath and suddenly felt sad. The girl asked him to look away and he did; although he could still watch her from the corner of his eye. He resisted but stole a glimpse. He only managed to get a very general idea of her body but the image, despite how little it lasted, was breathtaking.

She had smooth skin, with no marks, and he suddenly wanted to dip his teeth in it and leave a mark; his mark.

He shook his head again and she jumped into the lake. He turned his head and looked hungrily at her body, guessing how it looked, under the water. It was night so he couldn't see anything; the water was so dark.

But her bare shoulders with her head on top of the water, as the light of the moon fell over them was so sensual, it made him tremble. He could see nothing of her body but this little part of her, exposed at him who knew she was naked under the water, as it was kissed by the silver light aroused him to no end. He had never felt so drawn to anyone. Not even the best whore he'd been with had made him so quickly aroused.

She was not attracting his body , for he could control his body. It was far worse, far more unique than anything he had ever lived. Her aura, her magic, was flirting with his. It was the first time he felt he could connect with someone that way.

He didn't need to hide from her, like with all the other lovers and relationships he had. He was a creature of magic with her and she knew and she accepted. Because they were the same.

He took a big breath and bit his tongue furiously, until he felt the taste of blood. He looked at her again; she was under the water, but her form was slightly visible, betraying only that she was there but not the details of her body. She looked again, as she was enjoying the water, so human.

Then after a painful long moment, as he was gazing at her body, admiring its mystery, ~ it was like nature was hiding her from him, him and his wild emotions ~ she appeared again and this time most of her upper body was in his view.

The sight was simply delicious; her small but tight breasts, looking like they were made of something else but human flesh, her wet hair that now seemed longer because of their stated and glittering because of the moon. He wanted to cry for a reason.

She was not playing with his magic; she was playing with his fantasy, his mind, his imagination. She had pressed a button he didn't even know existed within him and freed all those sexual fantasies. Before he always considered women that were normal and usual his type because they were what he wasn't, but now he found the idea of a mermaid, a fairy, an elf, a creature from the supernatural world far more fascinating.

As she was smiling, he understood the difference between that smile and the ones she had been giving him during their conversation. This was a genuine smile of happiness. Just taking a bath and enjoying the water was a reason for her to be happy.

Then she did the sexiest thing anyone had ever done to him; she turned and gave him a challenging look that made him gasp automatically. And he understood then that he was near a trap. Whether it was her trap or Satan's, he didn't know. Maybe they were the same. It didn't matter right now.

What mattered was that she was forming a bond with him and he was not trying to stop it. He couldn't remember when that started between them, the challenge, the small attacks of who could affect the other more, but he was certain that he was losing.

It was her fault. She initiated that stupid mind game. Maybe it was her revenge on catching her and leading her to the pyre; an emotional, magical and now also physical sex foreplay. Whatever it was, if it continued it would be impossible for him to return to his monotone, dark and lonely life.

This sight of her and his sudden hunger for learning her, magically connecting with her, being one with her in both spirit and body, for everything magical related, would never go away. She would always exist as the ultimate living fantasy that was not part of his imagination but of his past.

It would always be a reminder that he could have her, if he just went against the code. He could give in and get lost.

But he wouldn't. It was against the sayings, against the teachings. If he gave in, it was like he was accepting that he was like her and if he did that, he would never be able to hunt witches again and he would never finish this journey.

XXX

After an hour they were again where they had camped for the night. She was again tied and he was again sitting away from her. In a way, he was scared of her.

The tables were turned in a way now. She was watching him and he was hiding from her eyes. After cleaning herself and experiencing that unique feeling of power from the water, she was more confident in herself than ever. She clearly could make him hers. His magical side was being drawn at her and it was the first time that was happening to him.

She expected him to be silent all night, in need of some privacy and solitude, so he could put aside all the unwanted memories of the previous hours. But he surprised her and spoke.

"Sakura?" he tried to catch her attention.

"Yes?"

"Were you from the beginning able to use..." he seemed to be in a difficult position, like saying the word was so difficult, so forbidden, that he was afraid of saying it. He shook his head and turned his back at her completely and hugged his knees. "Never mind."

"Magic," she then offered simply. "You wanted to say magic." He didn't want to look at her but she was certain that she had his attention now. "Yes, I was able to use it from the beginning in a way."

He turned this time, curious perhaps, and looked at her eyes. "What do you mean?" his eyes asked but he didn't voice the question.

"I was always able to feel the power of nature, the magic in the air, but for many years I couldn't do spells. I was both restricted and unable to perform them. You see, in my village, there is a law that says we can't use magic for whatever reason and whenever it pleases us." he clearly seemed interested now and shocked perhaps. Again she felt a sudden wave of anger; he really did consider them inhuman. He had never thought that they had laws. "The magic is a gift and it can only be used appropriately."

He stayed silent for a moment and then his expression turned to a furious one. He was no longer able or willing to hide his emotions to her; they had somehow, just in some hours, broken their outside wall and played a dangerous game with more honesty than before. "You are lying."

"Am not."

"You are!" he insisted. "You can't have laws, you can't have an organized society that is founded upon laws," he paused and took a big breath "especially laws like that."

She was silent and he dared her with his eyes to answer. "Look in my eyes." she told him, nearly commanding him. He looked. "In my village there is a law that restricts us, its citizens. We are not allowed to use magic whenever it pleases us and for whatever reason." he kept looking at her with an angry expression. "Kakashi." she told him and his eyes moved to her lips, that, for the first time, uttered his name. "I am not lying."

He let out a breath and turned his back again.

"It doesn't mean that everyone obeys. Like with your laws, not everyone obeys. But you can't blame a whole race for one's crimes." she told him and she suddenly felt tears in her eyes. "If that's the case, then your race should be extinct too." she let the tears roll down her face, until they reached her lips. "Our race, Kakashi." and she let out a sob and turned her back at him as well.

They didn't speak again for the night. She cried to sleep, as silently as she could, and he stayed awake listening to her soft sobbing and the pain in it.

_Our race, Kakashi._

Why did she say that, with so much pain in her voice?

XXX

The next morning he gave her food and they didn't even exchange a look. He didn't want her to talk again; it was painful and wrong, misleading. He didn't want to talk to her either. But he also felt that if he didn't tell her, now, something, they would never say anything else.

That was what logic was telling him he should do, but the idea didn't sit well with him. If she didn't talk, and they didn't communicate, that game would not continue. That challenge would not continue.

"I was able to use my powers from a very young age." he blurted out and waited to see if she would continue it.

In the end, she did. "How young?"

"Six years old," he said.

There was an inhale, a pause and he turned to look at her, to see if her facial reaction. What he met was a shocked Sakura, with open eyes and a half opened mouth. "Six years old?" she asked.

He nodded hesitantly and instinctively she tried to get up and move closer to him, which resulted in her falling down and her face meeting the ground. She let out a small gasp of pain. He was suddenly worried over her and without thinking, he moved to her side, helping her get up. "Six years old?" she repeated.

"Yes."

She let out a laugh and then a saddened expression was on her face and she looked at him again. "Six years old."

He felt his heart beating faster and hesitantly touched her shoulder. "What's wrong with that?"

She looked down and bit her lip. "It's proof that you are awfully strong" she said. He didn't understand her way of thinking. Why was that a reason for her to look so sad? "It's proof that so many like me will get burned, because they will not be able to defeat you, not able to escape from you and your magic."

She looked at the food and put it aside. This suddenly was no fun again. It was a desperate situation, a labyrinth of emotions and situations that she wouldn't get out of. She eyed the food again, the food he prepared, and suddenly she felt disgusted by it.

"I am not hungry." she said.

He looked at the food and then at her. "But you haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning," he told her weakly.

"I am not hungry," she repeated and looked at the sky "nor will I ever be again for the next weeks."

He hesitantly put the food closer to her again, but she simply moved it aside again. He took it then and looked at her once again. "I will keep it." he told her. "If you feel hungry later, tell me and we will stop for you to eat."

She looked at him, with her green eyes so empty, that he was suddenly alarmed by her look. It was in a way frightening. He had seen and admired those eyes the previous night when they were full of that determination and inner strength and it took only three words of his to push her into an emotional void.

"I will never be hungry again," she repeated. "Whenever you are ready, untie my legs and we will continue."

They walked the rest of the day without talking. This time he didn't put a rope to hold her; he just had her hands tied down and walked next to her. He offered the food to her again at night but she pushed it aside, saying the same words.

_I will never be hungry again._

He hated those words. He was the cause of those words and the situation she was in. This continued for three more days, him offering food and her simply saying those words. It saddened him how disgusted she seemed to be with the idea of eating something he prepared.

She had given up and she had done it in the most human way possible. She didn't cry again but he saw her mourning her life every time she looked at the world around her. It pained him to see her like that.

Why did her current state affect him like that? He shouldn't feel anything for her.

It was one thing to lust someone, sexually desire her, and another to care because he was caring for her to the point that her now pale skin and sickly look worried him. He wanted to yell at her for not eating, tell her that what she did was stupid, but he couldn't because he was leading her to die. He was the one that made her not to want to eat. Why should she try to protect herself, take care of her body and its needs, when in two weeks approximately, she would get burned?

She would die a horrible and painful death as the flames would take over her body. That's what she said and he suddenly felt that he was the one that was going to get burned. He imagined how the fire would melt and eat his flesh as he would scream in agony. The sight was displeasing. He looked at the beautiful girl walking next to him and imagined her in that position. He didn't like it either. If it wasn't for his hard and strict training, he would probably have wept.

She didn't look well. She seemed dizzy as she stumbled upon her feet and fell. The hunter quickly caught her so she avoided crushing with the ground. She went limp in his arms as she had lost consciousness because of how much she pushed her body.

He gently lay her down and as he looked at her, pale like the dead and breathing so lightly that it seemed like she was not breathing at all, he felt for the first time guilt for what he was doing.

Before he had doubts, but now he felt guilt, like he knew that he was doing something wrong. He took her in his arms and hugged her, waiting for her to get up. After some minutes, she opened her eyes and tried to get up. He didn't let her, just held her in his arms.

She tensed when she understood what he was doing. She suddenly felt alarmed by how close they were, how much he could hurt her. She took a big breath and pushed him away weakly, her body moving with difficulty.

It was her fault, she guessed, that she was so weak; she had neglected her body but in a way she didn't care. It didn't matter. Maybe dying due to starvation was better; it would at least be her choice to die like that.

The hunter held her closer and she pushed him again, not wanting to get close to him. She should hate him but he was not just the hunter anymore; he was Kakashi. He was not just a character with no other characteristic but her captor. He had a name, a past that was troubling, and emotions. They had a relationship and that was the scariest of all. She couldn't hate someone when his actions were, if not justified, understandable.

And every time he tried to feed her, she felt bad for not wanting to eat. He did it so humbly, so gently, that she was angry at him for the same reason he was angry at her.

Why did he look so human? Why did he look so nice and act so well? He was the monster that her mother mentioned to make her sleep or eat. He was the ruthless killer that didn't know of them and their life, their way of thinking.

But he was a wizard and one that was in pain.

One that was in denial and hated himself for past mistakes and his own nature. For being his father's son.

One that was her killer.

One that she would force herself to hate.

She pushed him again but this time he pulled her in a real hug. "You have to eat," he whispered in her ear and she shivered because of the contact.

She tried to push him again but he didn't let her. Suddenly she felt herself being squeezed on his chest by his one hand, while the other hand opened his bag. She started pushing him away, moving frantically in order to put some distance between them.

Suddenly he let her go and she fell on her back. She let out a cry and quickly looked at him, her eyes betraying the anger she felt. He took a piece of bread and brought it close to her mouth."Eat," he ordered and pressed it to her lips that were closed. She turned her head stubbornly and he sighed in exasperation.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye and she watched him bite the bread and chew it slowly in his mouth. This confused her for a second and then she understood what he intended to do. He grabbed her and pinned her on the ground while he positioned himself on top of her. She stubbornly closed her mouth and the man, using his brutal strength, opened it and before she could react he crushed his lips on hers, forcing her to take into her mouth the chewed food.

His lips were soft and for a moment she stopped resisting and just let him move his lips and guide hers. He moved back and closed her mouth again, forcing her to swallow. She looked at him with accusing eyes, which moments later watered and she started sobbing.

He didn't move; just looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She raised her eyes and for the first time looked at his whole face.

"Why?" she sobbed and trembled as she lay down and more tears ran down from her eyes.

He didn't answer at first and just untied her hands and gave her the rest of the bread. She took it into her hands and just stared at it, crying silently. She was not angry anymore with him or herself. She was just tired and had given up on both life and escape.

Silently, she gave it back and looked again at him with red eyes but no more tears. He didn't take it and she just shook her head to emphasize her denial. Hesitantly, he took it without taking his eyes away from hers.

"I will feed you like that, if necessary," he declared and she closed her eyes.

"I will never be hungry again," she told him once again and her eyes hardened and more tears threatened to fall down, but she didn't let them. "I don't have a reason to." she moved closer to him and pressed her body to his, bringing her face, her lips close to his. "Give me one valid reason for me to continue taking care of myself and I will." she challenged him.

He took a big breath after hearing her tone, looking at her eyes. She was coming back with her fierceness and inner strength.

But that wasn't for long, he knew. She would continue to not eat unless he told her a reason to do it. He, her captor, now had the task to persuade her to take care of her body and needs to live. It was ironic, really. He was the one who would make sure she'd die but he felt that he had to protect her so she would live.

He couldn't find something to tell her; he just knew that he had to feed her. It was illogical, irrational, but somehow that moment, it made so much sense to him. He had to make sure she'd eat. There was no reason why he should do that or what reason he had to do that.

He just needed to make sure she was going to eat.

He bit and chewed again while he kept her steady. She fought, resisted, but his strength overpowered hers and she found herself again pinned on the ground, him on top of her and his found again inside her. She refused to open up to him.

Then suddenly she felt a hand trailing down on her body softly and she felt aroused by that mere touch. It was like that feather light touch by that skin made her skin react in a way that no other male had ever managed to. It was intoxicating.

It was awfully enjoyable that one moment and she slightly gasped, forgetting what the man on top of her was planning to do momentarily. Then she felt his tongue delving into her mouth and the food was brought inside hers. She swallowed and let out a moan when the hand slightly touched her again and the man's lips were on hers again. She opened up this time and initiated the kiss, teasing him with her tongue, biting slightly his bottom lip and bringing her hands to rest on his shoulder and after a while to grab his hair.

It was all instinct. Neither of them thought about what they were doing, what they were supposed to do. They just acted upon instinct. How bad could that be?

Kakashi let out a gasp and pulled the female so she was sitting on his lap with her legs sprawled open and she could feel the evidence of his desire. He hugged her tightly and let his head rest in the crook of her neck, inhaling simultaneously the scent of her hair. He had never thought of doing that but at that moment he felt he had finally succeeded in doing something he desired for a long time.

The female moaned again and slightly opened his eyes. As he hugged her even tighter she hugged him back and tears rolled down her face.

_That's not right._

But it felt so right, so nice, so easy to give in.

_It's the plan! _

But it felt so nice that it could easily stop being the plan. It could be her desire in a matter of seconds.

_This has to stop._

But she couldn't find the inner strength to push him away, especially when he started sucking slightly on her neck. She eyed the man as she grasped again his hair and pulled it slightly. She took a big breath and bit her lip.

_It has to stop now!_

And she pushed him, showing him they had to stop. She got up off him and turned her back immediately at him, embarrassed. The silver haired didn't protest. She heard him take a big breath to calm himself and he got up too.

She turned to look at him and she saw he had once again covered his face with that mask. "This must never happen again," he simply said.

The pink haired witch nodded in understanding and raised her hands so he could tie her again. "Do not ever initiate something like that again," she answered him back "My well being is none of your concern, hunter." she said in a cold voice.

He took the rope and started tying her hands. This time the tie was lighter. She could even untie them on her own, if she tried carefully. He brought the rest of the bread and put in his back. "You'll eat it later," he declared.

"Do not ever initiate something like that again," she repeated without confirming that she would indeed eat the bread later.

The idea to eat something he made was disturbing. She just wanted this whole ordeal to finish. She wanted to die since she couldn't escape.

And the plan was not a solution. He did desire her, even perhaps deep inside care about her well being, otherwise his reaction towards her not eating couldn't be explained but it would never work. He was no idiot and his words were evidence that his mind didn't want to obey his body's desire and naturally in the life of a hunter, the mind would overpower the urges.

He would burn her, be there to witness it and continue for his next hunt, forgetting her.

But, it had really felt like he was also drawn to her as much as she was. That was also why the plan of seducing him wouldn't work; because she liked it way too much. And she was certain that if they continued this, whatever it was, she would be the one affected the most, not the man.

It was always that way; women felt more than men. She learned that by experience; her previous boyfriends were more interested in what they would gain from her than her as an individual, while she looked at the whole package, both the outside and the inside. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to be a very good judge of people's character when it came to romance at least.

She had been treated badly by her previous boyfriend and, due to her stupidity and obsession-confused-with-love feeling, she overlooked it and tried to keep him as close to her as possible.

It was futile because he decided to leave and she could do nothing but beg him to change his mind. And he would, as usual, ignore her.

This was how men treated her. This was how the men she always found herself attracted to were. It was her type and she knew the hunter fit in that category. Maybe he was a little more sensitive at some subjects but in the end, it would be the same; she would be abandoned again.

This time, though, she wouldn't return home and cry herself to sleep. This time would be the last one. Somehow the idea that she would be the stupid little girl who fell for the hunter's charming looks and paid for it didn't sit well with her. She had tried so hard to get stronger both in magic and spirit. She had promised herself she would grow up.

And she intended to keep that promise.


	3. Part 3

They didn't speak the next three days. Kakashi tried as hard as possible to ignore her and Sakura stayed silent, distant and abstract. She ate slightly once but Kakashi didn't press her again about that, most likely afraid how things would evolve between them if something like what happened took place again.

Fear was something the female also felt. It was not just because of her upcoming burning but also because of how much she liked what transpired between them. It was complicated; in so few days, so many things had happened. They had argued, flirted, kissed, hurt and pushed each other to their limits. And although, for her part, it started as a plan it became enjoyable.

It suddenly became personal. And that was terrifying because they were enemies. Because the plan would work only if she didn't feel for him anything, but she started to develop feelings. And she knew that the hunter was trained to suppress his emotions.

He would complete his mission because that's what he was supposed to do; the church ordered him to do, even if very deep inside him there were emotions for her and he didn't completely agree with what he was ordered to do. It was his way of living and nothing would change that.

Nothing.

It was futile to believe that he would give in to emotions like that. The plan wouldn't have worked, even if she was able to be emotionally numb to him. It was just a desperate thought, a cry for help to the universe.

She looked at the ropes around her hands as they walked, him in front and her following tied, against her will. She let out a small sigh sadly and looked at the trees around her.

This was it. She had a week and a half until they reached their destination, her pyre. A painful death. She imagined again herself tied, as the flames approached her and she looked up desperately, fearfully and saw only the eyes of men that were celebrating her death.

Her hunter among them, enjoying his payment and having completely forgotten her. Not caring that her body, her skin, her flesh was slowly melting and she screamed in pain and agony. Alone in a painful red world that he condemned her to. And he wouldn't care.

Although, he could have been in her place. Although they were of the same nature.

At that moment, when the flames consumed her and he would laugh, she would hate him. That moment she would find it in her heart to hate him.

XXX

Kakashi felt her discomfort as they walked and resisted the urge to look at her. He wondered what she was thinking, what a little girl that had lived so few experiences could think so close to her death. After what happened between them, he wondered about her, her life. Did she have a boyfriend? Was she a virgin? How many things would she never experience because of being captured?

By him, who was so much like her. He was guilty once again and it infuriated him how much she affected him. It wasn't supposed to be like this; never had this happened before. He was practicing this profession for more than ten years, he had captured and led to the fire so many men and women, but none affected him to that level. There had been people who didn't appear bad and he nearly liked them but none of them were able to invoke these kinds of feelings in him. Apart from the fondness he felt for her and the sexual desire, thinking of her and their situation made him feel guilty.

The only other time he felt that was when he saw a small nine year old girl burn in front of her parents who later followed her in the underworld. They also looked so human.

Although they were supposed to be devils. But her weak screams of pain as she cried to her mom to save her, her father to take her away and they cried because they were unable to save their child, didn't let him sleep for nights. Everyone around him, his colleagues and friends, laughed and ridiculed their pain or stayed silent like him and never voiced their thoughts. Never did any of them do anything to save a child that was burned to death just for being born to parents like that.

He didn't want to go against the church's orders but he believed they should at least spare the small kids the pain; it was unnecessarily cruel. But he was a coward and stayed silent, just watching as her cries stopped because she fled from that world of pain and went to the other hell where she belonged due to her diabolic heart.

But she screamed so much like a human and her parents cried so much like human parents that loved their child.

_Is magic enough to strip someone of their humanity? Is magic enough to allow him and his colleagues to make the love those parents had for their child inhuman? Did they have that right?_

Deep inside him, the answer was no, they didn't. It wasn't enough but he could be wrong. The church, the books, the priests couldn't be. If they also were then there was nothing certain and stable in the world. If people accepted that the church wasn't always the true and divine way of living, they would be forced to live in chaos, right? They would doubt the rules and live in a world that, for all the great matters, there would never be a certain answer. They would always agonize about death and life and God, heaven and hell, even more than now.

Was Sakura living like that? Unsure of the truth and unable to understand it?

Could her way of seeing the world be closer to the truth? He had heard that the witches and wizards generally accepted the world as it was, without trying to define it, because they couldn't. Was this uncertainty closer to the truth?

Could real magic give people the insight to see the reality? To accept the world with its mistakes and irregularities, all the creatures that were on it, without fear of conflict? Or perhaps accept that conflict was unavoidable and just try to avoid it as much as possible?

Was she really a demon? Was his father a demon? Were they really worth burned for something that maybe, like him, they had no control over?

He stopped and left his pack on the ground. After tying her legs, he left to find woods so he could light a fire for the night. But the question didn't leave his mind.

XXX

Sakura lay down and closed her eyes tiredly. These were the few moments that she could be alone and relax slightly. When he returned, she slightly raised her eyes to acknowledge his presence and then she turned her head and looked at the trees around her again sighing.

She felt terribly alone and lost. She needed so desperately some kind of communication, someone to listen to things that she never told anyone else.

"Hunter?" she called him weakly without really thinking. It was so tiring to think because all she did was think and remember how cruel he had been and how much she would have liked someone to love her. How difficult loving had become.

How much she would like to find someone to understand her.

As she suspected, he didn't answer but she knew, without even looking, that he was listening. "Has this ever happened to you before?" she asked and looked upwards to the sky with the thousands stars. "Have you ever been drawn to someone so easily, so quickly and so illogically? Have you ever been attracted to a victim of yours?"

Silence. But through that answer, she could hear the real answer.

So she decided to continue talking until he cracked and answered. "I haven't. I had only one boyfriend in my life and he was not a good one. He was distant and cold." she smirked as she thought of the dark haired man. "He was gorgeous, though; the most beautiful and desired in the village." a small pause again as she remembered her village and her peaceful life, away from the rest of the world. "I was so happy and honored that he liked me. I felt special because he chose me out of all the available girls. I gave him everything a teenager could give; my love, my devotion, my first kiss, my virginity. I never thought that I deserved anything from him because he had already given me the most important thing; himself." she let out a small laugh. "I was a fool because, in reality, he didn't give me anything. He just wanted to have someone for his needs and I blindly served him. It didn't matter that I was in pain or that I was not ready at fifteen, because all I wanted was to please him. Because I knew that if I said no, he would take what he wanted from someone else." She stopped talking, waiting for him to say something or for her to find the courage to continue. He never spoke. "In the end, he left to follow his desires, his ambitions and I just stayed behind. Maybe he thought I would always be available whenever he returned but I was so angry that I decided I would never be any man's toy again. I showed my worst side the first months; I slept with strangers, worked maniacally to become strong. It took me months to calm down." she finished and closed her eyes tiredly.

She was angry with both him and herself then. How stupidly and blindly she had given him experiences that she could never take back. Time didn't come back.

"I wish now that the end is so close to have chosen more carefully." she confessed to him. Some tears fell from her eyes. "I wish I had been loved by a man once and loved him back. I would like to have lived that once before I died."

He turned slowly and looked at her. "Why are you telling me all this?"

She raised her shoulders and their eyes locked with each others. "Because you are the only one I can talk to now and I really didn't want to die without having told someone how I felt."

"We send you priests for confession the night before. You can tell him everything you want."

She looked at the sky again and shook her head. "I can't talk to a stranger about my feelings." she looked at the trees again and turned her back at him completely. "You are the only one from there that I got to know. You captured me; it is your duty to listen. The repercussions of your action." she felt more tears on her face. "You decided my death." she accused him.

He looked at her, noticing for the first time how curvy her waist was. "Don't forget me." she muttered and he nearly missed her words. His eyes closed and he lay down, turning his back at her too.

XXX

She wanted to be loved and love back. He tried to imagine the boy that broke her heart and made her act as she'd described. He imagined her trying to hide the pain and the fear from her face as he entered her, her body not ready but her mind serving him dutifully. He was cruel and harsh, not caring for her pain and just tending to his needs, not caring if she enjoyed the act. And after he was done, he turned his back, leaving her alone and unwell.

Something like that would have happened by the other men she slept with. They may try to make it more enjoyable for her but it was just an act with no feelings. The notion of how that boy violated her emotionally and, to a certain extent, physically too, bothered him. The idea that all these faceless, nameless men experienced a girl so magical, without respecting and appreciating her bothered him.

The idea of how he would treat her if she was his. He closed his eyes and allowed in that solitary, private moment his sexual urges to take over his mind. He imagined his hands caressing her waist up and down, feathery touches, kissing her belly and her whimpers, as he did nothing more than just lightly and tentatively touched her. He would tease her like that, promising but without giving. He would prove to her that an experienced and capable man is able to make a woman feel so ready and willing, just by simple, nearly non-existent touching.

It would become unbearable to her and then she would beg, with her voice harsh, full of desire and that sound would drive him mad, especially when it was to come out of her mouth. He would start kissing her then and suck her lips and tongue while she would arch her body below him and feel the evidence of his desire. But it wouldn't be enough for her to have him inside her.

He would slowly take care of every part of her body before he took her. And it would be in the forest, under the moonlight, close to water (or even better, Kakashi imagined, inside water), transforming her to a water goddess, a nymph that resides in a lake or hides in the woods, in the shadows of the rocks and the trees, and appears in fairy tales to make men search all over the world for creatures of such perfection and desirability. But among all those men that searched for a creature like her, he would be the one to take her and he would be the one she would choose in the end, showing that _boy _that left her and made her allow these men to touch her how better he was. How she would always choose him over _him._

Without understanding his hands went down to his pants and slightly rubbed his arousal. His eyes shot open and he took a big breath. He tried to relax, to calm down, forget of that scenario but his bottom didn't seem so eager to forget.

He looked at her sleeping form and suddenly felt the urge for some small physical interaction; he could just go lay there and hug her.

And pretend. Pretend that some moments ago they were making love, cared for each other, and the morning to come she would turn and give him a good morning kiss and then they would make love again. _That boy forgotten._

It was weird that he was so jealous, more jealous than he could ever remember, over a woman that he didn't like lusting over with a boy whose name he didn't even know. It was worse than weird; it was a sin. But... he looked at her small, petite body. It was such a beautiful sin that he wondered if it could actually be a sin.

Finding something divine in someone so like him; could it be a sin? Could a man liking a woman be a sin?

He hesitantly got up and walked with nearly trembling feet to her and looked at her longingly. He wanted to touch her but he knew that by doing that he was going to envelop the devil in his most terrifying form; the one that looked innocent but underneath was Satan.

Yet the devil inside him called to her. Her body called to him and he gave in. It was the part his father left in him, the devil part, that gave in but as he hugged her and burrowed his face into her hair, his one hand caressing her hair and his other rubbing her belly over her clothes and his one leg tangled with hers, he was grateful for being his father's son.

This gift, this feeling while he imagined she was his and he could live that dream all night, was one of the most enjoyable experiences in his life. Slowly his hand moved upwards and rest on her small breast, that seemed to fit so well into his hand and he felt he didn't want to let it go, ever.

In fact, he didn't want to move from that position, ever.

That was his greatest sin; maybe the most important sin in his whole life. Nothing he could do in the future could compare with this and the outcomes of this; he was not only giving in to Satan's, but he was not regretting it. He was, for the first time in his life, accepting that at heart he was a demon too.

And he suddenly thought of his dad and imagined his death. Did he cry? Did he resist until the very end? Was he afraid and sad of leaving his only son in the hands of his enemies? Did he know that he was going to become a weapon for the cruel men that came and separated them? That he would be used against people like him?

He looked at the pink haired witch and tightened his grip on her body. Did he know that he left him alone, all alone?

Did he know now that he wanted to go against the church because his demon side finally woke up and protested against killing her? All the others' deaths hadn't managed to make him feel so against what he was doing his whole life. But he knew that if he killed her, at least half of his nature would resent him forever.

And that would mean he would completely hate himself, because his human side always hated the demon inside him and fought it his whole life, trying to stay on the path of the church. He loved his mom. What he remembered of her was a warm feeling of protection and love that enveloped him completely. But by loving his mom he had loved his dad too, because mother adored father.

In her eyes, he wasn't the creature sent from hell but the angel from heaven.

He remembered how broken his father was when she died. He cried and the pain was so raw that, although he was a small kid, he felt he had to help his dad recover.

Was he going to be in that position if she died? Was he going to blame her, his whole life, for stealing, even though unwillingly, his serenity and peace? Would he hate himself if she died and he was left only with dreams of her body and sparks of her fiery character that could so easily be broken? Would he be able to continue being a hunter after seeing her scream and burn alive? Would he be able to continue if he let her go? Would he look in agony at all the prisoners' faces to make sure she was not one of them? And if she was among them, would he save her again?

He didn't know, didn't want to know, because he was afraid he would end up like him, father, and like a human he would crumble, as his dad did.

Like a human...

He cried after her death...

She cried in fear for her life, in pain and agony...

She refused to eat once she finally understood that her life was over...

Like a human.

Humanly, she crawled into his life and her image was nearly ruling him now.

He kissed her hair again and let his eyes drift to the moon as it shone its silver light on their forbidden, never to come true, position. He loved his father and he still did. He always would and that could not be a sin, he decided, because respect and love towards one's parents was important.

And he was so close to loving her too, or falling in love with her... he couldn't tell the difference but he loved every second of it and resented it simultaneously.

XXX

Sakura woke up as she felt the sun hit her face. She opened her eyes and noticed she was untied. She lay down again and then looked at the man that was watching her intently again. She felt awfully uneasy under his gaze and yet it also felt so familiar for a reason. It was like she had been for hours under his eyes that were searching her body without touching.

Actually, she felt really warm, like someone had been touching her moments ago. Was it a dream? Did she see in her dream that someone was watching her and hugging her and kissing her in a very innocent, yet sensual way? That must be it, otherwise it didn't make sense. It must have been because of telling him how she felt last night.

It was a dream that would never come true; her sleeping and someone who loved her was hugging her protectively, keeping her warm and out of harm. She smiled at the idea and then slowly her smile faded as reality hit her once again. She was going to feel warm in the future, the very near future, but it was not going to be a nice feeling. Instead of a lover, hungry, red flames would hug her and instead of protecting her, she would be at their mercy in a fight she wouldn't win. And the price to pay for losing would dying.

She sighed and shook her head. There was no point in thinking again and again over what was going to happen to her. She could dream and think and imagine that lover and how nice her time with him could be. She looked at Kakashi smiling softly and a little sadly. His look slowly changed and instead of bringing out of her a sense of danger it made her feel warm. His eyes became slightly softer and he eyed her again with a warmth and slight tenderness (?) that caught her breath. It was such a slight change but he appeared now a different person. He was more man than hunter and she felt her heart beat faster. It was absolutely beautiful.

HE was beautiful and so desirable to her. If she ever had someone to hug her, like in the dream, he would be like him as he was now, with that warm yet slightly distant look. But she would be able to skip the distance and he would see through her walls. Without crushing each others' defenses they would be close. Without making each other vulnerable they would be one, a couple.

She felt tears roll down her face again and started laughing slowly. She was crying again for the future although she had promised in her past that she would stop being weak and act more like an adult. But she was afraid. Was it so childish to be afraid to die? To cry?

The lover would never come. Maybe he would never exist, like how no one really hugged her that night; it was just a hallucination of her mind, projecting her needs for companionship. There was no one to hug her but the hunter and Kakashi would never do that. Even if he thought about it, he would never give in to what she represented; Satan and his powers. And it actually hurt that he saw her only like a demon, camouflaged in human skin, while she tried but was unable to hate him.

It wasn't true, real, but it could be true as a fantasy, a dream; him hugging her as they lay together on the ground. She looked at him again and he looked back at her and she wondered what kind of lover he was. He seemed experienced, or that's how she imagined him to be. Did he treat his lovers well? Was he warm and tender, took care of their body so they would enjoy it with him? Did he hug them after he was finished? Was he the type of person that wanted a stable relationship or just sex? Or both, but according to the woman he was with. And what type of female body would he like? Skinny girls? Or more curvy? What was his favorite eye color, hair color? Did he have one?

All these questions suddenly invaded her mind. They were simple questions, without meaning or real interest; it was because she had nothing better to do. It was just the outcome of boredom and emotional exhaustion. It had nothing to do with interest towards him, just sheer curiosity.

Yet, she couldn't deny that she would really like to know the answer to some of these questions.

XXX

Three nights had passed since he spent the night with Sakura, hugging her and feeling her body next to his. The feeling of her skin, her hair and their smell didn't leave his mind and he found himself craving for a repeat of that night. He found himself unable to sleep and just stared at her back or her face, but never again going to her. He was afraid of what he would do, how he'd react to her body. He feared that he would not finish the mission, that he would give in to her; a thought that was so appealing, especially if she gave in to him too.

It was infuriating how all those forbidden novels he read despite the church's orders now were pushing him to disobey orders again. It was like a sin that seemed so unimportant to him was tempting him to go against his vow as a hunter. Rules...

Was it so important to always follow them, especially when they seemed so wrong? He looked at the female walking behind him and felt awful seeing her tied up, forced to follow him. He felt guilty for tying her and leading her to the pyre. He slowed up and eventually stopped walking, still looking at her. He looked at the sky; the sun would set soon but they could keep walking a little more. He eyed the pink haired woman again and noticed that she was looking pale again, a result of her not eating a lot. Just a few bites of bread once a day.

"We'll stop here." he said and she nodded without looking at him.

After lighting the fire and preparing food for the night, they sat in silence and ate. The witch bit slightly her bread although he had caught and prepared soup with some vegetables. He looked at her form and, seeing her sad eyes, he felt the urge to get up, walk to her and hug her and maybe do even more things to her. It was really wrong that he felt that way.

As it was wrong to love his father but he couldn't help it. He suddenly felt anger at the memory of all those men, his teachers, that instructed him to hate his dad and be careful of the demon inside him. He had never questioned their words but the more he thought about it the more he found himself attached to the memory of his dad and his mom, the more he accepted the "demon" inside him as an ability and not an existence that would take over him.

The more he thought it was wrong on his part to think like that the more he enjoyed thinking the subject.

The church was against thinking because people came to wrong conclusions and then they were Satan's prey, but he found himself thinking that wrong also. The question that the witch had asked him so many days ago that it seemed like a lifetime ago came to his mind often.

_Says who?_

Who said that she was a demon and not allowed to live? That what he was doing was not wrong? That he should hate her, instead of love her? That loving her was a sin?

The church, the priests who read the sacred books and advised people, according to them. And he found himself asking who said that the church and the books are not wrong? They were human and the books were written by humans also. What if they were wrong?

What if he was killing people who didn't deserve it up until now? That little girl's scream came to his mind. Did she die and cry like that because of someone following the wrong instructions? He looked at the pink haired who had lain down and turned her back at him. What if she was going to die because of him and the wrong instructions he was given?

It was dangerous to think like that but he couldn't help it and he didn't want to; by thinking like that, he could convince himself to save her, to stop before it was too late. He could even be sincere with her and give in to what he was feeling without being guilty.

"How many days do I have?" she asked and he turned his head to look at her. She was lying and looking at him now but what he noticed was how her breast appeared from her position and he felt his mouth get dry and his knees became weak while he felt again the need to touch her.

_Says who?_

Someone, he decided, that may be wrong. And thinking that, he got up and went and sat close to her. It was difficult to restrain himself now that she was so close. She eyed him curiously and suspiciously as she sat up.

"A few more days." he told her and took her hands and untied them. He held them for a moment and slightly caressed them as he admired how delicate and well made they were and thinking how they would feel on his skin, caressing him up and down and then go down to his lower parts. He was shocked with his mind. He was a man and he was thinking about sex like all healthy men, maybe a little more than most men, but the situation had worsened the last few days. Everything screamed at him sex; every part of her could be involved at the intimate act of making love to each other. She pulled her hands from him and he looked up at her, trying his hardest to conceal his desire and appear normal. She bit her lip and, for a moment, he was sure his face told her what he was thinking. She seemed surprised and maybe a little scared. He looked away immediately as he untied her legs and couldn't help but stare at them a little longer than necessary. There were marks from the rope and he tentatively caressed them with his hands.

"Does it hurt?" he asked without looking at her. She stayed still and shook her head but because he was looking at her legs, he didn't see it.

"No." she said and he slowly let go of her legs.

He looked up at her and after taking a breath he put a small distance between them. "Does it hurt?" he asked her again and she knew he wasn't referring to her legs anymore.

"A little." she admitted after a while. She glanced at him and then looked away immediately when he raised his eyes to meet hers too.

"Ask." he encouraged her to speak.

She bit her lip slightly and he again felt awfully aroused by that action. "Why are you...?" she asked but didn't finish her sentence as her voice lowered.

"Why what?" he asked and pressed his body closer to hers, suddenly deciding that he was going to live the moment with her, flirting and learning her. He, Kakashi, wanted that and for the first time in his life the rules didn't matter. He didn't want to obey and he didn't find himself obligated to obey.

She looked away and slightly blushed at his slight touch, biting her lip again. "Why are you acting like that?" she said in a low, guarded voice, suddenly feeling very shy around him.

He smirked behind his mask, finding himself very attracted to her shyness. He had seen her angry, sad, depressed, sexy, horny, peaceful, afraid, desperate, provocative and challenging and now he saw as shy. He wondered how many other expressions could be formed on her face. How would she look while laughing, smiling genuinely? How would she be while having sex, while waking up, while eating and chatting? He really wanted to see more sides of her at the moment.

"Acting how?" he pressed her and a small flash of anger and annoyance passed her eyes. He grinned and brought his body closer to hers while she leaned back to put some distance.

"You know...li..like you are interested." she said in a seemingly strong and confident voice but her small stammering betrayed her nervousness. She suddenly felt very hot, like she couldn't breathe and he was taking the air away from her because of being so close, forcing himself on her.

"Why shouldn't I act like that?" he asked her, faking an innocent expression to tease her.

She opened her mouth and then closed it without making any sound. "You said that we are not supposed to be doing what you are doing." she half stated, half accused him. "You said that it's a sin. You act so frustratingly and confusingly" she said and now her voice was angry. He didn't move; just kept looking at her as she let out her anger at him, a feeling he caused and perhaps not just by his actions moments ago. "Listen, Hunter," she started but he put his finger on her lips silencing her.

"Kakashi." he corrected her. "Tonight, I am just Kakashi to you, and you are just Sakura"

She stared at him and gulped slightly. "Kakashi, then." she agreed and took a big breath to continue her speech, this time calmer. "I am not well. And we both know it." she said but she found herself unable to continue. "I.. I..." she tried but the words nearly choked her. She turned her back at him and covered her ears with her hands while immediately closing her eyes. "Leave me alone." she told him as she tried her hardest not to cry.

The silver haired man was not so surprised about her reaction as he had anticipated an emotional outburst. He actually wanted one so he could start talking more sincerely. He slowly took her hands away from her face and just stayed still, hold her from the back. "I inherited my powers from my father." he told her. "I didn't think of him at all until we had that conversation some days ago. Everyone told me that I should hate him and resent the demon he placed inside me… but I find myself now unable to hate him." he leaned to her and placed his head on the crook of her neck. "Do you know why?" he asked.

She shook her head and turned to look at him, feeling rather intimidated by his breath on her skin.

"Because I love him." he admitted and looked at the female and slowly took his mask off. "I wear the mask to hide who I am." he slowly pulled it down his face. "I am a hunter and my identity should be unknown. But I do not want to hide myself, who I am, from the world only; I want to hide myself from myself." he brought his face closer to hers. "Do you know why?"

She shook her head again and her eyes held an unreadable expression to him. She wanted to hate him but always found herself unable to. And now he was doing exactly what she had done to him; sharing something personal and unique with her, so she would never be able to hate him completely. She did it for him to have guilt about her death, he did it so they would be even perhaps.

"Because I was afraid of whom I could become, because I could become like my father."

"...And get burned too?"

He raised his shoulders and looked away from her. "I don't know... maybe." he looked back at her. "Or maybe I was afraid that what I was told would be true and I would really find a demon inside me. I would not be human."

There was a pause of silence and they just looked at each other. "I think your father was human." she told him softly. "As you are. It's not a certain characteristic of ours that makes us of another race. Having a certain ability isn't enough to label someone as inhuman, beast or demon."

"Then what is it?"

She took his hand and placed it upon her chest, where her heart was below the bones and the flesh, protected and beating. "It's the heart, _our _heart, that decides that. We choose what we become." He leaned closer to her and she didn't move this time. "Your dad... he was human." he looked at her eyes, as his face was inches away from hers. "You wouldn't love him if he wasn't, after all. He wouldn't love you, either, if he really was a demon." she said and saw Kakashi leaning to kiss her as some tears escaped his eyes.

It was a sweet kiss, with a lot of emotion, that neither of them could name but it wasn't a passionate kiss. They pressed their lips without moving them at first and then she slowly opened up and he brought his hands to cup her face as he delved his tongue into her hot mouth. The previous time they had kissed because of Kakashi trying to feed Sakura they didn't have the opportunity to taste each other and explore but now they silently communicated by kissing.

Then Sakura felt the restriction spell of his to be lifted off her and her magic was able to connect with his. This act, by itself, was significant; it showed that at some level, maybe subconsciously, he was trusting her, or beginning to. She brought her hands to his face too.

Everything happened so fast and before she had the time to realize what was going on, she was with her back on the ground and a male over her body. Their soft and light and tender kiss evolved in a matter of seconds in a passionate act that promised a lot. For a moment she wondered if she should stop it but she didn't. She didn't really want to. He moved his head and started kissed her neck, at the beginning lightly but soon with more force. He sucked at her neck and she moaned and brought her hands to his head and pulled his hair.

He moved down and kissed as much of her skin as he could and then placed his head again on her chest while his hands moved up and down her body, caressing her softly with feather touches. He pressed his head on her chest and closed her eyes. "I think yours is human too."

Hearing those words come out of his mouth moved something inside Sakura. She found herself being happy about it although she shouldn't care what he thought. She felt relieved that he accepted her the way she was, that he understood how wrongly he had judged her. Those simple words triggered inside her a source of need to feel him that took over her.

She grabbed his face and kissed him passionately as she hugged him tightly. She desperately pulled him closer, pressing her body at his while her hands worked their way over his lean muscles covered still by his shirt. She inwardly cursed the piece of cloth and she started removing it when he broke away in need of air.

She looked up at him and he smirked at her challenging and honest look; she wanted him and didn't care to hide it. It was a simple act for lust; perhaps with some feelings that weren't necessarily for each other. He didn't know why she wanted him. Why would his words mean something important enough to make her react like that? He didn't care. He had her. She offered herself to him and he was no fool to let this opportunity go to waste.

It didn't matter why. He didn't know why he himself was doing this. The only thing he knew as their bodies grew hotter and hotter was that he needed her, needed to feel closer to her at some level. He sat up but remained on top of her and positioned himself that way so his erection was pressing her area and slowly removed his top. The female moved beneath him and raised her upper part to touch his chest now that it was on full view.

She slowly kissed it and tasted it as her tongue moved its way. He had such a strong body that, if she hadn't seen his face, she'd think he was just some years younger than her. Soon her hands followed and started to touch him. She pulled him down and kissed him again, enjoying his weight on her body, his overpowering presence. He kissed back as he started to raise up her dress. She felt hands on her legs, her hips and soon under her underwear. She gasped as he caressed her and instinctively moved against him while moaning.

He smirked in male satisfaction realizing both how wet she already was and how easily his touch affected her. She pulled him closer again and started nibbling his neck as she hugged him tightly in a desperate need to have him closer to her. She hadn't understood how much she wanted him until that moment.

"I want you." he whispered as he put his finger inside her and she bit his neck while groaning. He moved his head to her neck and start sucking and eventually bit her too. She arched at him and he pushed his finger deeper.

She moaned again and looked up to see his face, all flushed. "Hot..." she managed to utter. "So hot." He slowly pulled his finger out of her and removed her dress, leaving her only in her underwear below him. He slowly started removing her undershirt and her breasts were on full view. He looked at them and then at her face again.

She smiled at him sweetly, nearly innocently, and he kissed her again while his one hand cupped one of her breasts. Her hands were all over him and soon they were trying to take off his pants. He didn't help her by moving up or taking them off himself,though; he just kissed her more and sucked at her lips and tongue before his attention moved to her exposed upper body.

The witch let her head fall back as she enjoyed his attentions, moaning. It was like nothing was wrong with that. It was like he knew where to touch and how and when. It wasn't just her body that wanted that; it seemed at that moment that all her being was approving of what was happening.

And she decided to play with this sensation and pretend that they were a couple and loved each other, not a hunter and his victim that were attracted to each other. For as long as it lasted, because she would never get another chance.

_For as long..._

XXX

Kakashi woke up because of the sun falling down on his face and noticed the female sleeping soundly, using his chest as a pillow. He smiled and closed his eyes again, remembering the moments they shared some hours ago.

It had been amazing, he had to admit. It was the first time in his life that he had let go like that, not caring about anything else but her and how she felt and made him feel. Her skin was soft like that and she tasted so nice, additively nice. Although in his imagination he had envisioned himself taking her slowly after making her beg for him to be inside her, he found it impossible. Their intercourse was the result of days of sexual frustration, maybe even weeks. Maybe he wanted, inwardly, to take her from their first argument. He was interested in her from the beginning, after all; he just didn't notice how much and how he was interested until very recently.

He had hurried and claimed her but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she urged him to hurry, like they didn't have time, like that very moment and minute they wasted was a moment and a minute they wouldn't get to have. He looked at her sleeping face as she moved slightly and hugged him a little tighter. She was such a beautiful creature, so seemingly fragile and yet so strong at heart.

It saddened him how true her reaction had been; they really didn't have time to live anything. She was going to be handed to the church soon and in a day's time she would be thrown to fire.

_You will hand her to church..._

That was the saddest part; he would be the cause of her loss. He kissed her hair and his fingers lingered on his skin, trailing circles over it. He kissed her head again and looked around again, his much earlier thoughts coming to his mind again.

Would he really hand her over to them? Was he going to let her die and stand by and watch? He glanced at her sleeping form. How was he going to react to what happened between them? How was she? Would she accuse him of taking advantage of her emotional weakness and needs? Or would she smile at him and kiss him good morning? Would they repeat last night's actions? Ever?

He didn't like the idea that this fleeting experience was going to be all he would get from her. He still wanted to fulfill his fantasy and show her how different and more capable he was than the men she had previously met. How she needed to respect herself more and allow men that could respect and admire her body; touch her. Although, to his surprise, the idea of another man touching her angered him.

"Mine." he murmured under his breath and pulled her body closer to his. His eyes closed then, realizing what he had just admitted to himself. Seeing her as his, claiming her as his, was wholly inappropriate. In no way was she his.

He shouldn't really worry about rivals for her. She was not going to have the chance to be with someone else as he would never have the chance to have her again. In less than a week, she would be God's and only His. But the notion truly bothered him.

Why should he continue that work? After how much he had changed in the past days it was nearly stupid to go back. He wouldn't be able to capture more people, when he himself was one and two out of three people he found most important in his life up until then were magicians. The only exception was his mother who had fallen in love with a wizard.

He didn't know what he was feeling for the pink-haired girl but it was strong. He didn't know her well enough to love her but he knew her in a way others didn't. She knew him in a way that no one else did. With her, he wasn't the hunter but Kakashi, who was able to use magic. One of the few who knew about his abilities and the only one to accept him instead of being afraid.

It wasn't just lust. He couldn't fool himself into believing that; it involved feelings, not necessarily of love but of need, emotional need on his part, at least. He couldn't change what he felt and he didn't want to. On the contrary, he wanted more, not satisfied with how he took her that night, how little he got to taste her body. He pulled her closer and covered them better with a small blanket. She made a weird sound and snuggled beneath her arm while she tangled her leg to his.

Was she with him last night just because she lusted for him? It was from the beginning apparent that she found him attractive but was that it? Did she hate him? What would she do if he freed her? Would she leave and never look back at him?

It was very possible, he concluded. He had hurt her, after all, and she thought he was going to let her die. She had even suggested that he would even celebrate her death. The thought of how bad his image was to her angered and agitated him. He had stopped wanting her death from the first night, when she cried and was in pain. Even then, he didn't see a demon in her; he saw a girl in pain and despair. That was the reason he was angry at her; for not being a demon and making it even more difficult. She wasn't the only one that was humanly but none of the previous wizards and witches were so emotional. Maybe it was because they were older; she was one of the youngest he had captured. And she would be the only one to escape; the last one in a line of victims, prey, for the hunter in him. She was his prey but not the way she imagined.

He wanted to devour her, make her want to stay, make her his. Make her forget about that _boy_, make her be so devoted to him as she was to _him_. And he wanted him to see what he had lost; he wanted to meet him and see Sakura choose him, Kakashi, over her previous lover.

He was immensely jealous of him, despite never meeting him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to meet him. He wanted to see him lose Sakura and be pained by it but there was a fear inside him that Sakura would go back to him. And that idea made him angry and possessive and jealous because it was very possible for him to lose her.

He didn't even know if they had something between them. Maybe she slept with him out of despair and loneliness; maybe if she knew she wouldn't die and he wasn't an enemy she would not spare an older man like him a second glance. She was young and fresh and so full of life that he felt he got some too.

He felt her move again and looked down at her face. Her eyes slowly opened,, she rolled on to her back and looked at him. There was a moment of silence and the man thought he heard his heart beat faster, anxious about her reaction.

"Good morning." he told her, trying to act normal so he wouldn't scare her. She still didn't talk and just looked at him. Then she sat up and covered her upper body with the blanket. She glanced at him and then at the ground.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked him as she looked around for her clothes. "Don't you want to reach the church as early as possible?"

He sensed her nervousness, how uncomfortable she felt and perhaps scared. He half smiled as he leaned and caressed her back slightly with his lips. She went stiff again but did not push him away. "I thought we could take a break today?"

She looked at him and he smirked at her confused expression. Then he saw anger pass her eyes and after that sadness. Wondering why she was so upset about what he told her, he sat up and hugged her from behind, placing his head on the crook of her neck.

"We can just rest." he said and started running his fingers over her body.

She turned her head slightly and then looked away from him. "Rest?" she murmured.

He nodded and pulled her closer to him. "Rest" he affirmed. "Take a break from reality."

She let the blanket fall and turned to look at the older man while her hands went to the back of his neck. "And pretend?" she asked, blushing slightly.

He hesitated for a moment because he was not pretending, only she didn't know that. She still thought of him as her killer, the guard who was keeping her caged until the fateful day. She didn't know she wasn't going to die. He really should tell her that he had decided to change his way of living and seeing the world all because he met her but he didn't. He just leaned in and kissed her.

If he told her, she would leave and he would never see her again. He wanted her to be close to him; she was the reason he was thinking of abandoning everything. Not the only reason but the main one, the alive one. His parents were dead and he couldn't continue to work for people that were against his whole being and existence. They wouldn't accept him if he told them the truth. He always knew that so he never spoke and for all those years he didn't accuse them but himself for being born the way he was. He never went against what he was told, against the rules. He never questioned their validity.

But the question she had asked always came back in his mind.

_Says who?_

Just some people, that was his answer. Some people who were human like him, like her, but just raised in a certain way to not accept everything that was different from them. She was right to question them, especially since she hadn't felt a demon inside her to justify their accusations, since she knew that she could choose how to use the magic.

Because some few of them do hideous crimes with the magic wasn't enough proof that all of them did the same things. If that was the case, "humans" were equally guilty since they also had among them killers, rapists and all kinds of criminals. That was what she had told him but he understood the true meaning of her words later on; our actions define who we are and become. Attitude. The choice of attitude was God's most precious gift to mankind; they could make mistakes and they would be the only ones to blame just as they could choose to do the right thing, even if the wrong seemed easier or more satisfying.

She was human. He was human. And he couldn't stand the idea that she was there, with him, out of despair and maybe even fear. Was she afraid that he would be cruel to her if she denied him? Did she believe he would force himself to her, so she decided to come willingly to spare herself more pain?

He didn't want her to leave. He wanted her to stay with him. He wanted to make her _want_ to be here. He claimed her lips and pushed her down. He was glad that soon she was responding to him with passion. It meant she wasn't afraid; desperate, perhaps, but not afraid of him. And he was, for the first time in the last few years, genuinely happy and free with no mask, either visible or invisible, to hide him from the world. Right now, she was the world and she saw him so much better than anyone had ever seen him.

Only that she didn't know.


	4. Part 4

They spent the day together and the night, _pretending, _and now they had simply resumed their way, only that she wasn't tied. She wondered about that day-break they had. Although she had enjoyed that day, feeling really nice with Kakashi on his arms, talking and spending time together, nearly dreaming of a future together, now she found herself regretting it. What did it mean to her? To him?

Was that day a reward for spending a night with him? Was that her payment for her services?

The idea that this may be the truth disgusted her; she didn't want to be a whore and she certainly didn't want to be treated as one. She had been with him because she chose to, in need to feel close to someone before the end. It wasn't true love, not even close to that but she had understood, had thought that he was feeling something for her, other than lust at least. She had believed that he was different from the previous men she had met.

But his actions were telling her differently. He was cold, distant and uncaring. He had woken up, gotten dressed and packed before she woke up and when she did awake, he just ordered her to get dressed so they could continue on their way.

She didn't expect him to be affectionate but either for him to pretend that day and two nights hadn't taken place in his life. It angered her that he was so deceitful. She had honestly believed that he would be more subtle at least. He would consider her feelings especially since she was so close to dying. But no, he had just taken what he wanted, made it look like it was important to him, made her think that it was her choice or at least something mutual and then when he had got it, enjoyed it as much as he wanted, tossed her aside like a broken doll that was no more use to him, held no interest because he had already played with her.

Like a spoiled child, that how he treated her. She was angry at him and yet so sad because she had enjoyed that day so much; his body, his smell, his touches, the way he had treated her body while making love, like it was important and worthy of respect, like he was blessed to touch her, all that was a fraud. She felt blood rush hotter in her veins as she watched him walk indifferently.

He was going to laugh. He was going to celebrate her death, see it as a festival. He would enjoy her screams and her pain, or maybe he won't just care. It didn't matter to her. If he laughed when the time came, if he looked into her eyes and smiled, she would hate him. Now she was sad and frustrated by the way he treated her, but that was just proof of how poorly he thought of women but if he laughed, it would be proof of how disrespectful he was to life itself.

And that was the greatest sin, because it meant that he didn't appreciate that he was alive. Maybe he didn't. After all, he couldn't accept his father because of being a wizard and he couldn't accept himself as the son of a wizard.

XXX

The tension between them was stiff and so strong. He felt her anger and disappointment at him for his behavior and he didn't blame her. He was cold. He was distant. He hadn't talked to her for anything else but to tell her she should get dressed so they could continue. It was like he dismissed the moments they had spent together when in reality it was exactly the opposite.

He wanted even more than that, than spending time in a forest, hidden. But he knew that she would go, once he told her that he would not kill her, she would leave and return to her village. He had thought of going there too but didn't really like the idea because he would always be reminded that he had been her hunter. He wanted to go to a new land that no one knew anything about them and make a new start.

It was irrational on his part to want to go through all this with someone he barely knew, one that could so easily hate him for everything he had done to her but his mind could not think any other way; he wanted her completely. It was irrational and illogical and scary because he was at his most vulnerable against her; whatever happened, whatever she did, he would always let go of it. He wouldn't ever hurt her.

But he wouldn't let her go either. He found it impossible and the only way for him managing to balance out these two desires of his was to make her want him, love him, make her be with him willingly. But how?

How would he make her accept him? What was there for him to do? He didn't have time to pursue her and it seemed that without the luxury of time nothing of the things he wanted could come true. How could he make her ran away with him and not go back to her village, her friends, her family, that _boy_?

Was there something he could do? Or was all this fruitless, desperate thoughts of a man infatuated with a woman?

Suddenly, he tensed and felt danger, immense danger coming from behind them. He turned and waited to feel again the source of the danger. Sakura looked at him curiously and stopped walking too. She eyed him suspiciously and then looked back where the hunter was looking.

"What happened?" she asked him and he slowly turned his head to her.

He looked at her wordlessly and then shook his head slowly, never leaving from his eyes. "Nothing" he murmured and started walking again, looking back once more and then grabbing her from the elbow, started walking faster.

"Hey!" the witch told him and pulled her arm back. "That hurts." she accused him and suddenly his eyes softened but immediately he hid it.

XXX

They stopped again for the night and this time the witch fell to sleep immediately without eating. Kakashi watched her and once her breathing became even he got up and cast a spell around the female, not allowing her to go beyond a certain territory. His look lingered at her sleeping face and he knelt next to her. He softly removed her hair so he could clearly see her face and kissed her on the cheek.

He felt once again a sting of possessiveness as he watched her sleep peacefully. It wasn't normal or healthy to feel so strong for someone he knew so little. Maybe it was the result of the emotional distress she brought him along with the complete isolation; for nearly three weeks he had interacted with her and only her, without even seeing another human being. Was that the reason of his immense interest in her?

_Mine_

He thought of her in another man's arms and he suddenly wanted to break something, hurt someone; hurt the man that was holding her. It was wrong to feel like that. It was dangerous and yet, he couldn't help it.

He got up and left to find the source of the danger he felt earlier. He ran quickly through the trees, silent and invisible, fast as the wind and soon he was hiding behind some trees, unseen beneath their shadows, watching some men who were obviously wizards sitting around a fire.

One, a blond one, got up and impatiently walked to a dark haired, pale man and grabbed him by the shirt. "Why aren't we searching for them now?" he asked through hissed teeth. "Now, they'd have stopped so we could find them and rescue Sakura."

The dark haired slowly took the blond's hands away from him and removed them from his shirt. "It's not the right time." he answered calmly without explaining further.

The blond glared at him and then looked at the rest of the men sitting around the fire. "He could be hurting her." he said loudly. "What are we waiting for? To see her at the pyre, burned like all the others that this man has captured?"

"No, Naruto." another man said. He had brown hair that were tied in a ponytail. "We won't even let her get into the church, but from what she said in her message, the man is dangerous." he lay down and looked at the stars lazily. "It's not wise to sacrifice ourselves in an attempt to save her and then just be captured with her and get burned. This hunter, Naruto, is a wizard and a strong one."

The blond guy, Naruto, made a weird sound that sounded like he chucked and sat down. "Hypocrites." he murmured.

"Indeed." the brown haired man confirmed. "They are the worst and most dangerous kind."

That was enough for him to hear. The danger was not for them but for him. He slowly walked away and returned to the clearing where she was still sleeping. He watched her as she slept and removed the spell he had cast earlier. What was he going to do now that her people were so close to her?

After she contacted them. When did she manage to do that? It must have been some days ago, before they slept together, for them to be here. But he was sure that he hadn't let her use her magic until they slept together two nights ago. Or so he though at least. Maybe, he had underestimated her and she was just faking all this time.

This concept that seemed so realistic the more he thought about it was awful; she had used him, ridiculed him, mocked him. But worse than all that, she had affected him and made herself necessary. Maybe everything she did from the very beginning was orchestrated so he would fail this capture.

It was fake, a fraud, a treachery. Everything. All her words, her smiles, her sadness... could they all be fake? Were they an attempt for her to escape? Or, buy time until her friends come. Did she sleep with him for that? Was her distress and moodiness today not because of his weird behavior but because they hadn't come to her aid yet.

He looked at the sleeping female again and clenched his teeth as the familiar feeling of anger rushed inside him. He wanted to break her, that moment, hurt her in as many ways as possible. Maybe even taker her. He didn't care if she'd resist or if she would protest; if he was going to lose her, then he could at least have one final taste of what she was honestly willing to offer.

_Nothing. She is willing to offer nothing._

And that was the most painful fact of this situation. She wanted to offer nothing. And as much as he wanted to hurt her at the moment, the more he wanted her to love him, need him. But it was futile.

There was only one thing he needed to decide; how was he going to let her go? Wait until they come and take her by fighting or release her and let her return to them on her own? Was he going to let her go? He lay down again and sleep took over his tired mind.

XXX

The next morning, when Sakura woke up, she found the hunter still asleep, something unusual since all the previous days he was awake before her. She got up and stretched, feeling a deep pain on her back. Sleeping on the ground was getting to her.

Even while sleeping he was wearing his mask, afraid of the world seeing him. It seemed so uncomfortable, she wondered how he lived like that. How was he breathing beneath that mask? Then she looked at the trees; all she was seeing from the day she was captured was trees, rocks, small lakes and small rivers. Her eyes stayed at the trees and then went back to the hunter.

She quickly ran at one particularly tall tree and started climbing. She managed to reach a level around the middle of the tree and turned to look at the world from that height. The sight was intoxicating, indescribable. The beauty of the world as it seemed so small in the far distance. She suddenly felt like she was so far away from everything and everyone. Nothing could hurt her as long as she was up that tree.

Slowly she turned and looked at the other direction, where Kakashi was leading her too and her happiness was slowly replaced with a feeling very familiar to her now. The church, her pyre, her death was so close to where they were. In two days they would be there and in three, she would be burnt. The illusion of happiness and nearly god-like power disappeared. The illusion of freedom and safety was crushed because of that sight.

The church was like a big castle. And it was impressive with its long walls that seemed to be protecting and hiding so many things within them. It was reddish and she imagined it inside. The yard, the pyre, the corridors, the prisons, the rooms, the _faces_ of her enemies.

Again that awful image of her screaming, feeling the pain of the fire and her skin melting while she heard men, faceless men laugh. And among those empty faces, she saw one that had details, that was _someone._ And he was laughing too, looking at her with those dark eyes that had looked at her with so much care and kindness, now looking at her with mockery, shouting at her how he had mislead her. How he never cared and just wanted to fuck her.

She was a victim. One, in the line of many.

She took a big breath and jumped from branch to branch down as fast as she could. After finally her feet were touching the ground, she ran to the man and started shaking him to wake him up. He opened his eyes and before he could sat up, she took of his mask and crushed her lips to his. Taken aback, the man didn't respond immediately but after a moment he started kissing back. Her hands went to his pants and she unbuttoned them while sucking his neck. He grabbed her arms and she suddenly stopped.

He looked at her with a cold expression and pinned her on the ground. 'What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, just took big breaths and then arched her body to feel him and reached to kiss him. Kakashi grabbed her hands and kept them together above her head, not allowing her to move.

"Tell me." he insisted. Again she didn't speak, didn't react at all. Slowly her eyes watered and tears ran down her face and a sob escaped. He didn't move, just let her cry beneath him.

After some painful moments, she calmed down and looked at him again. "I..." she started and a sob escaped again. "I have two or three days."

He slowly let go of her and got up, off her. "I am afraid." she continued and got up as well. "I want a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

Sh bit her lip and his eyes darkened while looking at her do that. "When it happens," she looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. "when I am burned, I want you to be there."

This seemed to shock him. "Why?" he asked and turned his back at her.

"I don't want to be alone." she slowly approached him and kept a small, a few inches, distance between their bodies. "But I want something more than just your presence. I want you not to laugh." he turned and looked at her with shocked eyes. "I don't want you to be happy that I am dying."

He looked at her and she cried even more because of his silence. "Maybe it's going to be difficulty for you, but _please _pretend for the beginning of the burning at least." she pressed her head on his chest. "_Don't laugh. Don't celebrate it_."

"What does that have to do with your behavior?" he asked, referring to her kissing him like that earlier.

She took a big breath and looked into his eyes. "As payment." she answered.

"For what?"

"For pretending for me." she told him. "You should gain something out of it."

He just stared at her. She stared back with a look of acceptance and resignation. She had totally given up on escaping and living, with him or without him. She smiled softly at the older man and went a step forward and hugged him, burying her face on his chest.

He grabbed her wrists and closed his eyes. "Go." he said and let her go. She looked at him surprised. His mask was no longer there and she saw pain in his features.

"What?" she asked weakly, not able to believe what he said.

"Go" he repeated. "I didn't want to kill you, wasn't planning to give you to the church some days now."

She looked at her hands and then at him. "You?"

He shook his head and looked away from her face. "Do not trouble yourself with minor issues. Go. Your friends are near. They came here to save you after they received your message."

She looked at the forest around her and smiled. She laughed and tried to process everything that had happened to her in the last few minutes. How luck was on her side again, life had a meaning again. She turned to leave but stopped after a few steps.

His heart stopped when she didn't walk away. She stopped like she was thinking of not going. Then she turned and ran at him. She jumped, up tied her legs around his waist and kissed him on the lips, hard and passionately. A moan escaped his mouth as he kissed back and suddenly she was pinned against a tree and Kakashi kissed her neck hungrily. She hugged him and placed her head on the crook of his neck and then we lips were near his ear.

"Thank you." she whispered and let him go. She fell on her legs and he backed away to let her pass. She looked for a long painful minute at him and then ran away.

He stood there and watched her retreating back. In the end what he was afraid of happened; she left. He wasn't enough to convince her to stay with him. Tears rolled down his face this time.

He had fallen for her without even understanding how or when or why. But he did, anyway, and he had fallen hard and deeply. But it was over.

Over.

She would never come back and he would never reach his hand to her. He would never do anything that could hurt her and after all the pain and emotional torment and exhaustion she went through because of him, she'd hate to see him and be reminded of the past. She didn't want to see him again. If she did, she would have told him somehow to find him. She would have left a clue.

It was over. And along with it, Hunter Hatake was over, finished too.

**End Flashback**

"I found Naruto and the others soon and we returned home." Sakura said to her friend.

Ino nodded in understanding and hugged her friend. "But why didn't you start this sooner?" the blond witch asked. "Didn't you miss him? What were you waiting for all these months?"

She raised her shoulders and shook her head. "I don't know." she honestly replied. "I tried to get over him, to move on. I dated another guy, who was very nice to me and treated me well but...there was something missing." she sighed and held her friend's hand again. "While we made love, Kakashi and I, I felt important, needed, significant. He touched me like I was a rare creature in the world that had come from another world and he was the blessed one, the only one in this world who had the privilege to touch me."

"But with the other guy.."

"This didn't exist." she affirmed. "I guess I was waiting for him to come."

Ino sighed and squeezed her friend's hand. "It's a little your fault too, Sakura." she said. "You didn't give him an opening to do something. You didn't do anything to show you were feeling something for him. You just said "thank you" and he must have perceived that thank you as a goodbye, a way of showing gratitude for sparing you, when in reality the fact that he didn't plan to kill you and let you go, was his way of saying I love you."

"I didn't know what I felt for him at the moment" Sakura confessed. "I honestly believed and wanted to end our story then but... as time passed I couldn't stop thinking of him and when the dream came, I finally realized that I wanted to find him."

"What do you want to tell him, Sakura? To be together? One more night? An answer?"

The pink-haired woman ran a hand through her hair and looked at the sky. "I wan to try." she finally said. "Because despite how much our meeting affected me, I didn't try, it wasn't a relationship, it was just attraction, but not only physical." she clarified. "We were drawn to each others' personality and character. To each others' psyche."

"If he rejects you?"

She raised her shoulders again and smiled faintly. "I'll give up. I'll accept that it wasn't meant to be, but it will have ended. The cycle will have finally ended and I will try again to move on." she looked down and then at the blond girl. "But to do all that, I need to find him as soon as possible."

"And you need my help." Ino concluded. Sakura nodded. Ino got up and extended her hand to the other girl. "Come on, let's find your ex hunter"

XXX

She stared longingly at his back as she watched him from afar. He had changed, not so much outside but inside. She felt his more mature aura that was the outcome of his solitude this year.

He was sad.

Her heart ached along with his as she tried her hardest not to run at him and hug him publicly. Their reunion wasn't supposed to be that way, for everyone to see. No, it would be different, for just the two of them.

Everything they had lived after all was private, a deadly secret that none of them wanted to forget and couldn't regret. She inhaled deeply and kept looking at him, afraid that he would disappear suddenly like he did that day. Afraid that this was a dream that felt more real than the previous ones she had saw in her sleep, and she would wake up suddenly in cold sweat.

_I love you still, I never stopped._ She wanted to believe that so much but until she heard the words come out of his mouth, she couldn't allow herself to delve into the happiness of that statement. She was important but maybe not enough for him to love her, to be in love with her.

She walked towards the hotel he was staying in, preparing herself mentally for their encounter. Without anyone noticing her, she walked inside and swiftly made it to her room. There she undressed herself and looked herself in the mirror; she had neglected herself. Her body had bruises and scars and marks from older scars. Would he still like her?

She touched herself and let the tears fall as she lay down on the floor hugging her knees. She had repeatedly told herself that she would accept his rejection but now at the thought of him saying those dreadful words that would shut her away forever, she couldn't breath. It was her mistake, she knew that but she couldn't help but wonder if she would be allowed another chance, a more healthy chance, to get to know him and experience him.

He was the center of her life, the reason she existed now. It was her fault, for not having the needed defenses to love herself more than him. Or she did have them but he broke them all, crashed her walls that kept her safe from the outside world, without her understanding it, and left her vulnerable to his advances. After some minutes that seemed like hours to her, she got up and put on clothes again. Beautiful clothes that made her body look appealing and desirable. If he denied her tonight, he would do it with her looking as attractive as possible.

After finishing getting dressed, she went outside at the small balcony that was connected to Kakashi's room and she quickly went into his room. He wasn't here yet but she didn't mind; she was going to wait as long as she was supposed to, even hours. He would come in eventually and she had some time to calm herself and prepare mentally for him.

Suddenly the door opened and she froze. She felt his overwhelming presence come inside the room and it took her breath away. His smell suddenly was taking over her and she restrained herself from jumping at him, desperate for contact. They hadn't been so close for so long and that moment Sakura realized how mush she had missed him.

She didn't move, just waited for him to notice her standing at the shadows next the wall. He got in and closed the door while holding his katana in his wands without unsheathing.. yet at least. He placed his katana on the table and started taking out his clothes, Sakura froze. What was going on? He had the keen senses of animals, he felt when someone approached him.

Had he forgotten her to the point that he couldn't even realize she was in the same room? In all the encounters she had dreamed of he first noticed her and then she spoke. Now she had to initiate the reaction too?

Suddenly he turned around and before she could even understand what was going on, she moved slightly from the spot she was standing to see that where a minute ago was her head, now was a knife. She swallowed and took a big breath to calm herself.

At least he was still the same. "Who are you?" his voice sounded distant, uncaring and cold. It reminded her of his voice when they had first met and he had captured her. The fear she had then for him surfaced as she turned to look at him.

There was a moment of silence and the witch contemplated whether she should _tell _him who she was or _show_ him. Without really reaching a decision, she took a step ahead and her face was now visible to him thanks to the light from the moon.

His eyes widened in shock. He took a step back like he was in fear of her or of something she had brought along with her. She saw his emotionless mask fall down and all the emotions he felt were written on his beautiful face. Or at least what she could see of that face, because he was still wearing that mask.

She let her mask fall as well and showed him without words, without touching what she felt. All her love, her longing for him. How much his absence in her life had cost her and how much his existence in it had offered her. She took one more step closer to him and he tensed but didn't move back at least. Now his eyes were looking all over her and seemed not to be able to get enough of her.

She felt a deep feminine power from understanding that she was still desirable to him. She didn't make another step, just looked at him with pleading eyes, loving eyes full of tenderness and need for everything he had to offer. She felt small compared to him and what he was making her feel.

His eyes never met hers. He looked at every part of her apart from her face.

XXX

Kakashi couldn't believe she was there. Was she real? Or this was a dream? Had his obsession with her created a hallucination?

But she looked so real, so beautiful, so desirable... so human. His fists clenched to keep him in control and not ran at her. Her body had matured; she was a woman now in the full meaning of that word. He brought his hand at his face and sat down.

"You are not real" he said to himself out loud. Sakura wouldn't have stayed silent for so long, after not seeing him for a year. She was a dreadful witch, a female that took advantage of the people around her, the human version of sin. She was his sin, leading him away from what was right and legal. She made him question everything he thought was right and virtuous. The one that had shaken his world and left him alone in the end.

Why? Why?

He raised his head to see if she was there again and this time he looked straight into her eyes. They were promising something so beautiful, so desirable...

Why was she here? Why now? Why did she look so human?

This question hunted him from the moment he understood his attraction to her. She was unique but also so like all the other people. None of the previous witches he had found and brought to be burned looked so human. At the beginning, he thought it was because she was very young, just seventeen years old. A child that's what she was then but now she was a woman. And he was a man. Why did she have to confuse him so much?

"You are a hallucination, aren't you?" he asked her. He wanted her to be fake, because then he could pretend with her and she wouldn't use him as an escape for her emotional turmoil. She wouldn't crawl under his skin, past his defenses and then disappear, when she had the chance to go.

Suddenly her facial expression changed and she ran at him and hugged him. He felt her hands. They felt so much like then, but they were also harder. She had worked with these hands to make them hard like that. He took both of them and stared at them. "Am I so lost? So mad?"

He felt her lips on his neck or perhaps the cloth that now had the shape of her lips. "I am real" she murmured as she brought her face closer to his, like she did the night they slept together for the first time.

"You are?"

She nodded and he pushed her lightly away so he could get up. She moved and sat next to him but he immediately moved to distance his body from hers. "Why are you here?" his voice was cold and distant and she couldn't see his face because he had turned his back on her.

She didn't want to say long excuses and confessions of love using pretty words. She had decided from the beginning of that search that she would say just the simple truth. "I love you"

He didn't move, he didn't even seem to react to her words. "And you decided that now?" he asked her without allowing her to see his face. "What made you come now? After all these months? Why should I believe you when you left so quickly then."

"I love you" she repeated and she kept her tears from falling down. As she feared, he had questioned her words. At least he wasn't questioning her humanity anymore, or his. But the sight of him was tearing her apart. He was so small and broken inside the solitary life he chose after their parting. She was guilty for not saying what she should back then? For taking so long to understand.

He let a laugh and turned to look at her; his eyes were cold and full of despair and hate. She felt fear take over her; he was dangerous. She had expected apathy but not hate. Why would he hate her? "It's not enough that I am tormented in my sleep because of you? Is it not enough that I have lost everything that mattered in my life because I met you?" he yelled at her and she got up from the bed. "I lost my faith, my job, my ideas! You made me question everything! You stole my serenity!"

She didn't speak; she didn't know what she was supposed to say to the silver haired man. Seeing him like that, hurt, desperate and in pain, made her question the purpose of her journey. Was she really so selfish that she wanted him to herself despite the pain she had caused him? Was she a fool to believe they could find a way to solve their differences?

"I... I had a dream" she started and her voice was shaking "it was a... a warning."

"Warning?"

"It showed me that you were ready to leave me behind. Something or someone would make me just a memory for you."

Kakashi looked at her and then turned his back again. "So that's why you came proclaiming your love for me?" he asked with a cold voice again, all the emotions that were visible on his face while his short outburst were hidden now.

"I understood then that you would never willingly come on your own to find me." she said. "I love you and I did try to get over you but..." he voice broke as she let a choke escape and she cried. All the emotional turmoil she had endured, the doubting and the hesitating took control of her body and she sobbed trembling. "I knew that you would never come, because I didn't say the right words back then." she confessed through her sobs and tears. 'It's my fault. It's me that hesitated, that didn't try at all then."

He looked shocked as he gazed at her holding herself and trembling. The raw pain in her voice made him flinch. Again, he thought, she is so much like a human. A part of him wanted desperately to console her, have her in his arms and calm her down but his ego was stronger. He couldn't trust her again, he couldn't allow her to plain with his sanity once more.

"I am leaving" she said and walked towards the door. As she was ready to open the door and looked at him one last final time. "This is goodbye Kakashi. I give you my word you will never see or hear about me again. You can forget our encounter and move on to the woman you are with now." she opened the door and left. She ran to her room and fell on the bed where she cried silently for hours.

She had prepared herself for the rejection but she hadn't anticipated how much it would hurt her. How could she know, when the last time she had been rejected, she always felt not enough. How could she be so foolish to believe and hope that he would be forgiving. It was him who lost everything and had nowhere to go and nothing to live for. She went home and she was happy to do that. She had felt happy when she ran to her friends.

She should have spoken then, tell him to find her again, to do something, but she did nothing, didn't even look back after that thank you and the kiss they shared. The kiss that had made him believe perhaps for that minute that she chose him, over her village.

She woke up the next morning and just rolled tiredly on her side closing her eyes again. She tried to sleep but it was futile. She took a big breath and got up. She felt so tired and emotionally drained. The idea that she had to travel again was unappealing but she had no other choice. She had to leave so she wouldn't be near him like she promised the previous night. She looked outside and noticed it was still early, that way she could leave without anyone noticing.

She quickly got dressed and packed her things. Then grabbing her sack, she ran down the stairs not even daring to look at his door. She quickly payed the employee of the hotel and she left. The town was pretty empty with very few people walking. It gave the creeps how all of them were watching her. She covered her head with the hood of her cloak to hide her pink hair, a trait of hers that always drew attention.

She had money with her thanks to a recent job she did before she came to the town; she had cured a little girl that was the daughter of a rich noble and they had payed her well. She was going to use the train instead of walking again, so she bought a ticket and sat on a bench waiting for the train. Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled towards him.

And crashed his lips on hers.

She looked up to see who had kissed her and her eyes watered because of the sight. "You love me?" he asked in an uncertain tone.

She nodded and they kissed again. "I am sorry for everything I told you"

"I am sorry for how our story ended, what happened... It was all my fault, my cowardice"

"No" he said and hugged her "If it wasn't like that, we wouldn't be together now."

They kissed again and she melted in his arms. It was all so perfect and mind-blowing. "Why?" she asked him after they broke apart in need of air.

"Because I decided that I need you in my life way too much to let you walk away again forever." he answered and she placed her head on the crook of his neck, a place on his body that seeped to be made for her to fit in.

"I was following you terrified that I would lose you to another woman because I didn't try and was way too much of a coward to be honest with myself." she murmured against him and he smiled as he let himself relax and enjoy the moment.

She hugged him tightly and took a big breath. "You?"

He looked at her face as he held it in his hands. "What about me?" he asked in a whisper and smirked at her sexily. She blushed feeling how hard and muscular he was. She couldn't wait for when they would be together alone in a room but she had to make sure of something first.

"Do you love me? Do you want to try again? Are you willing to be with me, knowing how I acted? How I could act if I got scared or very hurt? That I am a witch and you are a wizard?" she asked and tears gathered in her eyes.

He didn't speak for a moment and she hid her face in the crook of his neck again caressing his hair. "All my life I was told that people who could use magic were supposed to be burned because they were servants of devil. They didn't believe in the true God. I was half of that devil. " he paused for a moment and squeezed her in his hug and brought his hands below her shirt in need to feel her skin. "I was sure that was the truth and hated myself, my father for cursing me with that heritage but I have been thinking all these months and I've been reading a lot. If you study history you understand that most of the people that have changed the world were against religion or didn't necessarily follow the church. I met many people and I thought of what the messiah taught us, the divine way of living; he said that we should love and accept everyone. He created us and he gave those powers but like the rest of the humans, it's our choice how to use them." He brought his face closer to hers. 'So yes, I accept you as a witch, as the petite female that hides an inner strength that fascinated me then, the little I saw of it at least."

"What about the others?"

"If we try, I think we'll see if they will affect us in our joint life." he kissed her lightly on the lips. "I will change, you will change, we'll compromise and we see what happens. I can't say that we are going to make it, that our weaknesses are not going to be in our way. I can only say that we will try to make it work." he smirked slightly "I must admit though that you biting that lip of yours is a huge turn on and you act like that when you are scared so I think I can bear that characteristic of yours."

She moved back a little to look at him and smiled. Slowly she placed her forehead against his and he smiled back at her and she could see his face since he was not wearing that mask. "So you accept me as your equal? You love me?"

He nodded slowly and she smiled. "You laugh, you love, you cry, you hurt, you need, you fear, you hope and I do the same things! So we're really not that different." he kissed her lightly again "But I don't love you. I can love you, but first I need to get to know you. What I can say to you now is that I am in love with you."

She laughed at that and looked at him as she brought her hands to caress his face. "I can accept that." she smiled at him. "Together?"

"Together" he confirmed her and they kissed again.

None of them could be sure that they would be forever together but that didn't matter now. They could be together forever if they tried to make this new relationship work. If it didn't, it couldn't be helped. But there would be no regrets concerning each other; they would have tried and they would have enjoyed their love to the fullest.

It was all their choice, they were free.

XXX

Life with him was better than she could ever imagine; they had been staying together for nearly a month and she found herself enjoying his company in many ways, not only physically. They had grown closer; opened up to each other with great difficulty, revealed their thoughts, fears, hesitation. After all that talking, things had finally cleared up between them and they were finally ready for a new beginning.

Or nearly ready, at least. Be cause there was one things Kakashi had to do before he could start anew, something he wanted to do all those months he went into hiding, and torturing emotionally himself. If he didn't do that, he would never be able to accept himself and his past.

That's why they were in that old abandoned cottage like house, to end this circle of unspoken and repressed emotions and finally move on. The couple walked into the house slowly. Sakura held her lover's hand and squeezed it in an attempt to offer him moral and psychological support for what he was going to do, what he had wanted to do, as he'd said, months now, maybe even years. His eyes softened as he looked around and then lead them to the back yard, where along with all the wild plants and flowers were two stones.

He hesitated and just stared at the stones, the ground under which were the remains of his parents. He hadn't come here for years, although this was his home. He resented that place for reminding him his past and how it had affected his future but now, free from the guilt and the despising, free from hunting and holding the hand of his beautiful, tender lover, he was happy to be here and show her this place. However destroyed it was due to him abandoning, it was his house. He had been conceived and born here and maybe in the future he and Sakura would start their own family here.

He moved closer and Sakura followed slightly but keeping some distance to give him the needed privacy for that conversation. He knelt at the graves and touched the stone on which his father name was written. He wasn't allowed to be buried properly so they just put his dust under that stone and years after a teenage Kakashi had brought the tombstone and wrote his name.

He felt tears ran down his face and caressed the cold material slightly.

"Dad?" he called without waiting an answer. "I am here again." he said and looked at Sakura who slowly walked to his side. "Not alone, though, this time." he stayed silent and took a breath. "You're probably wondering why I am here after so many years, or maybe you already know..." Sakura sat down next to him and held his hand again.

"I want to tell you something." he continued. "I..I..love you, dad." he finally said with a crack. "I am proud to call you my father." he added.

Sakura kissed him lightly and hugged him but he lightly pushed her away, not finished yet. "I am in love too. And I am happy." he looked at his mother's grave. "It's not perfect but I've come to believe that it's not possible to have a perfect relationship. You didn't have one with mom either, after all, but you were happy."

"Her name is Sakura and she is here with me." he pulled the female closer to the stones "Isn't she beautiful?" He paused again, clearly emotionally distressed.

"I love you." he repeated. "I hope you can forgive me for betraying you and be proud of me."

Then he got up and holding Sakura's hand left the house and as they were standing outside and looked back with a sad smile, he left his tears roll down his face. Sakura, seeing them, pulled him down a bit and standing on the tip of her toes, kissed them away.

"It's a new beginning." she whispered against his skin. "Our story begins." she went a step back and smiled. "And it's going to be a good one."

**END**

I hope everyone enjoyed it. I am afraid though that some parts of the story are a little boring and that I overdid it. Hopefully, some will find it enjoyable. I also want to say that this is my first time doing anything close to a lemon, so forgive my iexperience please. Leave a comment, if you don't mind.

Also the songs that inspired for the story were three: S'akoloutho by Vasillis Papakonstadinou, Ise I Foni by Helena Paparizou and Hellfire by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I will do a translation for the greek songs and post in in my Livejournal which you can find from my profile. Just click the Homepage link XD

Also, I do not want to offend anyone with the religious concept of the story... this is fiction and it should be treated like such. I hope any complains about this will not be about that matter


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